QUESTION: What that small green windmill is for that is across from the Super 8 motel on the bay side of 101. They seem to be constantly working on and adjusting it.
ANSWER: The residents of Coos County need a little public art in their lives, so says Coos Bay landscape architect Mike Vaughan.
He’s giving it to folks.
And many have noticed. It’s been hard to miss the spinning contraption that materialized on the waterfront over the past few weeks.
The windmill is an entry to a contest that was never contested. It’s also possibly a harbinger of more such structures if its designer has his way. Vaughan decided to build the contraption when he heard about a contest proposed by the Coos County Cultural Coalition for the Bay Area Fun Festival weekend.
The local nonprofit called it “The Winds of Time.” Contestants were asked to design some kind of sculpture capable of capturing the summer winds at the site of the future Coos Historical & Maritime Center. The winner would receive a $500 cash prize and financial help to build a permanent version of the sculpture in a local plaza.
Vaughan liked the idea and quickly found materials and help from several local businesses. The light pole came from Tracy Mueller at Art Signs. The fan bearing and mount were donated by Sause Bros. And Vaughan found the fan blade, taken from a Detroit diesel engine, while looking around the yard at Billeter Marine in Eastside.
“This fan blade just had my name on it,” Vaughan said.
Workers Andy Grotzke and Kyle Adolphson, and owner Bruce Thompson of Koontz Machine put the pieces together.
The only problem was, there was no contest.
“The board collectively decided it wasn’t going to work,” said David Bridgham, the past president of the Cultural Coalition.
The idea had been to showcase the area’s talent, but the resources just didn’t come together, said fellow board member Carol Ventgen.
The coalition’s members tried their best to let everyone know the event wasn’t happening, Bridgham said.
“Mike Vaughan just slipped through the cracks,” he said.
Contest or not, Vaughan decided to install his windmill anyway. He’s since colored the pole and blades with paint donated from Bayshore Paints. He’s also thinking about making more windmills and putting them as far north as the veterans’ memorial near the McCullough Bridge down to Millington. He likes the idea of displaying boat propellers and other objects that people don’t always get to see because they are underwater.
“They are really things of beauty,” he said.