Apparently $600,000 is too steep a price to pay for a 10-foot tall statute of a faerie riding a toad. The Army has decided that it will drop its plans for a sculpture and two murals near its new Mark Center location in Alexandria.
Sen. Chuck Grassley had opposed the project and said it was too much to pay to put art near a bus station located next to the facility.
According to the “Washington Whispers” blog from US News, A pleased Grassley said, “The Army was ready to spend $600,000 on three pieces of questionable art, just when the country is up to its eyeballs in red ink. With a national debt of more than $14 trillion, we’ve got to make sure spending is in line with the national interest.”
The Army Corps of Engineers had initially defended the art, which would have cost around $200,000 each.
This is just one of the latest hiccups for the Mark Center project, which is being opposed by some Virginia Lawmakers and local residents for what they see as a crushing blow to an already congested traffic area.
