Hate to see Autumn (Above Left) The original 'Spring'. (Lower Left) Present condition. (Below) Close up of pond)

In 1989, landscape architect and artist Peter Richards created "The Spring" when he was an artist in residence at Artpark, Lewiston, NY.

Located next to the Oak Hill trail and Native American burial mound, the outdoor "living" sculpture utilized real spring water, which flowed through spiral grooves cut through glacial rock and into a basin which was carved out of stone (lower right of photo below). Overflow then filled the reflecting pool, which was surrounded by hand-hewn oak beams recovered from an 1851 barn. The sculpture was intended for aesthetic and contemplative purposes, a sanctuary from the bustle of adjacent park activities.

Richards' masterpiece, which won widespread acclaim, was sponsored by a $30,000 grant from the state. That's over $52,000 in 2012 dollars.

The sculpture is now completely abandoned. Vegetation, most of it in the form of invasive species, has taken over and the pond is filled with debris, including a large traffic control sign and gate. This once beautiful location is now derelict due to the appalling neglect of its owner and "sponsor", New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.

Since you can't fence it off and charge admission and the idea of coin-operated binoculars on the perimeter of the pool must have seemed silly even to State Parks, this fascinating creation, which is featured on numerous websites highlighting outdoor American conceptual and landscape art, was left to rot. 

State Parks is pouring many millions of Greenway dollars into Albany 's cash cow Niagara Falls State Park and rock concerts by assorted has-beens in Lewiston but can't spare a few thousand to put a new roof on the DeVeaux Woods Carriage House or preserve a legacy sculpture like "The Spring".