KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Union Station's unique outdoor art installation, "Reflecting Motion," will be removed earlier than planned after a storm caused significant damage to the sculpture last week.
A brief storm that swept through the metro on Wednesday damaged the sculpture that was suspended over the station's green space, and officials said it would be too costly to repair and rehang the installation this late in its scheduled exhibit time.
The art piece and its support grid was removed starting on Sunday, with work expected to wrap up by the end of Monday.
Union Station officials initially had hoped to repair the sculpture and continue its run as planned, but once they got a closer look at the damage, they decided to take it down.
The estimated cost to repair the sculpture was at least $30,000 and would take about two weeks, meaning it would only have five weeks left on display.
Still, Union Station President and CEO George Guastello said the sculpture did what it was designed to do.
"It was designed so if it got to that high level, the worst-case scenario it would come down and it came down exactly as performed," Guastello said. "So Kansas City had a chance to be on the world stage for 12 weeks."
Union Station officials estimate 100,000 people visited the sky sculpture while it was on display between May 18 and July 9.
