Santa Monica To Spend $275K To Restore 'Chain Reaction' Sculpture

SANTA MONICA (AP) — There's victory in the battle to save a Southern California anti-war sculpture by a Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist.

The Santa Monica City Council has agreed to spend up to $275,000 to restore the sculpture called "Chain Reaction," according to the Los Angeles Times

The 5 ½-ton, 26-foot-tall work is in the shape of an atomic mushroom cloud. It was built from copper tubing and fiberglass chains to a design from late Times cartoonist Paul Conrad.

The statue has stood on Main Street since 1991 but three years ago, the City Council voted to remove the rickety work because children were climbing it.

Supporters raised money to save it. A restoration plan approved Tuesday will add city money for repairs and to surround the statue with landscaping to fend off climbers.

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