DOWAGIAC — Two of Dowagiac’s most notorious and long-standing creatures will be finding new homes in the coming week.

Two downtown sculptures, Stone Lion, a lion sculpture which was located in Beckwith Park, and Mountain View, a pyramid of animals which was located in front of the Huntington Bank building, are being moved to new locations downtown. With work to move the sculptures already begun, city leaders expect the pieces to be in their new homes by late this week or early next week. The rehoming project is not to exceed $17,000.

“We are making sure we take care of our art and ensuring it can be enjoyed by our residents,” said Bobbie Jo Hartline, secretary for the city manager. “Our sculptures were a gift from people who wanted to leave a mark on our city. … We want to preserve that contribution.”

Stone Lion is being moved as part of ongoing work and renovation in Beckwith Park due to safety issues. According to city leaders, Stone Lion was located on top of settling and sinking ground in the park and had to be moved for safety and preservation reasons. Other sculptures currently still in Beckwith Park, including Sunflower and Solitude, are still placed on steady ground and will remain in their current spots for the foreseeable future.

“We don’t know yet if [Stone Lion will end up back at Beckwith Park once work on the park is complete] or remain in its new location,” said City Manager Kevin Anderson. “That is its original home, and it may very well end up back there, but no decisions have been made on that yet. In the meantime, it will have a beautiful home.”

Mountain View is being moved from its current spot as it is sitting on land that the city is leasing until 2020. With the lease agreement soon ending, Anderson said the city decided to move the sculpture now as the opportunity came up.

Stone Lion will be moved to a plaza next to the post office, while Mountain View will be moved to a spot across from Beckwith Theatre.

“Luckily, we had already chosen those spots to be spaces for public art,” Anderson said. “At the time [we decided that], we weren’t necessarily thinking of putting these two pieces there, but we did have the space set aside, so in that sense it’s good. It does work for us.”

Hartline said the donors of the sculptures were happy with the new locations for the sculptures and that the new locations will still allow for the public to sit and enjoy the artwork.

She added that the city has taken precautions to ensure the pieces are moved safely and are preserved. The city chose to work with Kalleward Construction Group out of Kalamazoo, Michigan, as the group has worked with moving public artwork in the past.

“We felt very, very confident in them,” Hartline said.

Both Hartline and Anderson said that protecting and preserving public art is a priority for the city of Dowagiac.

“Public art becomes a part of the fabric of a community, much like a park or architecture does,” Anderson said. “These visual marks are strong reminders for the community of art and the sense of place that comes with it.”