Salem Globe Restoration Project Stalled

By Jennifer Halley, The West Side Newspaper

The City of Salem’s ability to secure funding will be the last piece of the puzzle in a five-years- long process to restore the Eco-Earth Globe at Riverfront Park. 

The three-story tile mosaic sculpture, which stands at the southern end of Riverfront Park, was turned into a community art project in 2003, after its use as an acid storage ball for the former pulp processing plant, Boise Cascade. Mayor Roger Gertenrich conceived the idea, and community members funded the art project, with Art Director Mary Heintzman leading those efforts. Eighty-six thousand tiles were painted by local artists and high school students to depict earth’s diversity across land and water. There are also 200 special icons that represent cultures, religions and events. 

Over the last twenty-three years, wear and tear was caused by weather, especially water infiltration and its repeated freeze-thaw cycles, as well as a lack of regular upkeep has damaged the globe. 

In 2020, the Salem Public Arts Commission hired Architectural Resources Group (ARG) to perform a condition assessment, which showed a loss of ceramic tiles across large sections of the globe, along with widespread soiling, heavy biological growth, and failure of sealants and joints. 

At that time, ARG suggested that restoration could occur without uncovering the fiberglass membrane and asbestos layer. Repairs were estimated to cost four hundred thousand dollars. 

The Salem Public Arts Commission (SPAC), an advisory board tasked with overseeing the city’s public art collection, managing public art plans, and approving public murals, which was then housed in the City of Salem’s Public Works Department, approached the Salem Parks Foundation (SPF), a non-profit and volunteer-led organization dedicated to advocating for the city’s park system, about fundraising for the partial cost of repairs for the globe. Since SPAC acts as a separate entity from the City, it did not require City approval for fundraising. 

Pat Norman, SPF Board President said that across the next four years, the foundation raised three-hundred thousand dollars. One-hundred-and-fifty thousand of those funds came from a grant given by the Cultural Resources Economic Fund through the State of Oregon, and the rest through private donations. 

If not used by June 30, 2027, the grant given to SPF will expire. 

“We're not going to continue to raise money for the globe project, but we will accept money for it,” Norman said. “And we've kept track of everything, so, if the project doesn't go forward, people will get their money back.”

In 2025, a secondary study was performed by ARG, revealing that the globe had deteriorated significantly due to “material deterioration, inadequate installation methods for mosaic and mortar bedding, and a lack of routine maintenance.”

According to their report, the tiles must be removed, asbestos abated, and the globe stripped down to its substrate. 

The cost of a full restoration will be 1.5 million. 

The City has been under tremendous budget constraints over the last few years, and funds across all departments are limited. 

Kathy Ursprung, Media and Community Relations Specialist, and City Spokesperson, said “The City is exploring partnerships as well as potential funding options for the restoration project. Next steps are dependent on the ability to develop community partnerships for this public art project, and availability of funds.”

Ursprung said that funding partnerships would be needed as soon as possible to ensure that the grant awarded to SPF does not end.

“The Eco-Globe restoration was a topic of discussion during the Budget Committee process,” Ursprung said, which happens each year in the spring. “While nothing is scheduled at this time, we do expect future discussions,” she added. 

The Eco-Earth is under the Community Services portfolio, but responsibilities for it extend into the Public Works and Finance Departments. 

If the project goes through, the City does not currently have plans to cover regular upkeep and maintenance for the globe. 

“The City has extremely limited resources and staffing for maintenance of its 142-piece public art collection, especially for donated creations like the Eco-Earth Globe, over which the City has limited control of original construction methods and maintenance funding.”

This story is ongoing, with more details to come as details emerge.