Gainesville Sun - September 26, 2001
By TIM LOCKETTE
Sun staff writer

The Alachua County Commission will help pay for a plan to put fiberglass alligator statues in various locations around the county -- but it could be months before any other art project gets money from the county.

Commissioners voted 3-1 Tuesday to give up to $20,000 to Gator Trails, a public art project that would place 50 fiberglass life-size alligators -- each of them decorated by a local artist -- at prominent locations around the county. Commissioner Mike Byerly voted against the motion.

The project is based on the "Cows on Parade" program, which placed statues of cows at various locations in Chicago.

That project allowed Chicago's city government to rake in millions of dollars in revenue. Once the cows caught on with the public, the city was able to sell the cow statues and merchandise based on the cows.

The Gainesville City Commission voted last month to provide $20,000 in startup money for the project. But when Gator Trails promoter Marilyn Tubb came to the county for a similar grant, commissioners were wary.

The county's art and tourism projects are funded with money collected from a "tourist development tax" -- also known as a "bed tax" because it charges hotel and motel users a 3 percent tax. Commissioners and local arts groups have long been engaged in a debate over how that money is spent, and commissioners asked Tubb if Gator Trails could wait until January, when commissioners expect to complete negotiations on the issue.

But Tubb and Gainesville Assistant City Manager Carl Harness said the program needs funds now. Gator Trail organizers, they said, plan to have the statues in place by the time the Florida Museum of Natural History hosts the Tyrannosaurus Sue exhibit -- and they hope to have prototypes of the alligator statues completed by Homecoming weekend, when potential donors will be in town.

"Time is of the essence for this project," Tubb said.

Commissioners voted to draw up an interlocal agreement that would allow the county to spend up to $20,000 on the project -- but only after Commissioner Rodney Long suggested the commission follow up the move with a moratorium that would ban spending on art projects until the bed tax issue is settled.

Tim Lockette can be reached at 374-5088 or tim.lockette@gainesvillesun.com.

See September 26, 2001 issue of Gainesville Sun for original article.