Courthouse to receive new sculpture

Thanks to a joint effort, a new statue will appear in front of the Sweetwater County Courthouse.

Green River recreation supervisor Katie Duncombe said a fox sculpture, which was purchased by the Green River Arts Council for about $5,000 through the Thomas and Mary Kourbelas Charitable Trust, will be located at the west entrance of the Courthouse.

Ducombe said the statue will be located near the door the residents use to purchase registration tags. She said this location is very visible and once the statue has been placed residents will see it easily.

Another reason this location was selected is Mary, who passed away, used to work for the county.

Dumcombe said not only is it a good place for a memorial sculpture, but the fox will look good in all of the flowers the county has in front of its building.

"The fox will look good in that location," Duncombe said.

The fox sculpture, which is 47 inches from tail to ears and 49 inches high, was created by Jacob Novinger of Gooding, Idaho.

Since the county building is within city limits, the city needed to create a memorandum of understanding with the county for the placement and maintenance of the sculpture.

Sweetwater County Commission unanimously approved the memorandum of understanding for the fox statue despite not seeing a photo of it prior to their vote.

County public works director Gene Legerski said the statue was actually made out of recycled metal and would be a nice fit in front of the courthouse.

"It's a pretty cool looking fox," Legerski said.

Deputy County Attorney John Deleon was quick to find a photo of the fox for the commissioners to look at and they all agreed it was a nice piece of art and were glad they passed the MOU.

The same MOU went before the Green River City Council Tuesday evening, but the results of that vote were not available by press time.