[FEL-L] [Phoenix_Exotics] Decorative lion statues a bit too realistic, get ousted

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Decorative lion statues a bit too realistic, get ousted  
Scott Wong
The Arizona Republic
Oct. 21, 2006  12:00 AM  
 
The eight lifelike lion statues across from what  soon will be Arizona's 
largest cineplex apparently are a bit too lifelike for  some tastes. 

Guarding the entrances of a children's water fountain park  at a West Valley 
retail project, the concrete beasts are depicted raising their  rumps in the 
air, each with a terror-stricken ram trapped under it in what some  perceive as 
a sexually suggestive pose. 

And as work crews point out, the  lions' tails are swished to the side, 
leaving their, er, pride in plain view.  

Glendale Councilwoman Joyce Clark hasn't seen the statues but doesn't  think 
they're appropriate for a family park.

"I can see children getting  an instant lesson in the birds and the bees, 
which maybe their parents wouldn't  want them to have," she said.

Clark and others need not worry. No  children or other members of the public 
will be exposed to the lions.  

Developer Ellman Cos., which is building the Westgate shopping and  
entertainment plaza, said the statues will be gone before the center welcomes  its 
first customers next month. 

"We're removing more than the anatomy,"  company spokesman Jeffrey Hecht 
said. "We're removing all the  lions."

Hecht said Ellman was not pressured to get rid of the beasts.  Rather, the 
company decided to return the statues to the manufacturer when they  arrived.

"(The statues) represent too much of a gargoyle or medieval feel  that was 
out of place from the Arizona Deco architecture of the center," he  said. 

In addition to ditching the lions, Ellman plans to swap out some  potted 
plants, experiment with new lighting fixtures and adjust the center's  bright 
paint schemes.

A 20-screen AMC Theatres complex, Gordon Biersch  Brewery restaurant, Coffee 
Plantation and other tenants are set to open Nov. 17  at Westgate City Center, 
north of University of Phoenix Stadium. 

For  weeks, construction workers have been making jokes about the lions, but 
they  don't think they should be scrapped.

Biff Bennett, who installs sprinkler  systems at the site, said children 
wouldn't give the lions a second thought.  It's the adults who have their minds in 
the gutter.

"If it's killing a  ram, I don't see anything unnatural with that," the 
Phoenix resident said. "It's  a male lion. Are you going to remove the gonads of a 
lion in the  zoo?"

Hecht said the molded, mass-produced statues were ordered by a  landscape 
architect. The development company is still deciding whether to  replace the 
statues with public art pieces.

"We're still in the design  phase of what we're doing. We're testing 
different items and features to see if  they will work or not," Hecht said. "The 
general consensus is the lions do not  work."



Reach the reporter at _scott.wong at arizonarepublic.com_ 
(mailto:scott.wong at arizonarepublic.com)   or (602) 444-6914.
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