Press Release
The Sinking of the “Mechan H2O” Sculpture
Alsdorf Park | 2901 NE 14th Street
Wednesday, July 12th
8:30 am
The “Mechan H2O” robot sculpture will be submerged to go to its final resting place 100 feet below the surface on the stern of the Lady Luck sunken ship as part of the Shipwreck Park underwater art exhibition.
The 500-pound sculpture is made out of steel and depicts a robot scuba diver (see attached photo). The 7-foot sculpture, part of the City’s public art program, was on display for one year at the City’s beach just south of the Fisher Family Pier garnering a lot of attention and thousands of selfies. Tyler FuQua Creations, Inc., an artist team from Portland, Oregon, was commissioned to design and fabricate the sculpture.
The piece of art will be loaded by a front-end loader onto a 45’ catamaran at 8:30 a.m. at the Alsdorf Park boat ramp located at 2901 NE 14th Street. The actual sinking will take place underwater, so the photo op will be of it being loaded on to the boat.
We will be taking raw underwater video in 5K as well as video from a go-pro mounted on the robot for POV. That video will be available upon return and provided on a thumb drive to those who request it.
Lady Luck is the 324-foot tanker vessel that was sunk on July 23rd, 2016, as an artificial reef 1 ½ miles off Pompano Beach’s shore. This ship is one of the biggest contributions to Florida’s artificial reef system and one of the most easily accessible major dive sites in the nation. The ship is the centerpiece of what is known as Shipwreck Park, surrounded by 16 other existing wrecks covered with marine life. Shipwreck Park is a unique underwater cultural arts park with rotating underwater art exhibits. The ship includes specific themes, exciting underwater events, artwork and rotating art exhibits to create a unique dive experience for local and international tourists.
Shipwreck Park is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the creation of an underwater park system establishing artificial reefs, utilizing public art to raise awareness of the need to preserve and conserve our natural coral reef system. The purpose of Shipwreck Park Pompano is to develop and protect our coral reefs. For more information on Shipwreck Park, visit https://shipwreckparkpompano.org/.
