The San Luis Obispo City Council approved more than $120,000 in art projects at its Jan. 19 meeting, including $70,000 for a memorial to the dead of Sept. 11, 2001.
The 9-11 memorial was spurred by the request last November of Frank Callahan, San Luis Obispo fire department chief,Ā for a piece of steel from the World Trade Center. The memorial will be installed at the new fire department dispatch center.
Most of the money for the art projects come from in lieu feesāfees that developers pay āin lieuā of including art in their projects. The developers pay one half of one percent of construction costs up to $50,000 to forgo an otherwise required art project. ā
This article appears in Jan 21-28, 2010.