Originally Published on Thursday, December 08, 2011By Thor Jourgensen / The Daily Item
LYNN — A 16-foot-tall sculpture erected next to the All Care Visiting Nurses Association’s new Broad Street building symbolizes theagency’s mission to extend a helping hand to families who need medical care in their homes, Association President Shawn Potter said Wednesday.
Created by Haverhill artist Dale Rogers, the sculpture features a silver stainless steel gate built around a bronze-colored steel keyhole. Potter braved Wednesday’s rains to watch a crane lower the sculpture onto a corner of the lot at Market and Broad streets where the VNA is building its new headquarters.
More than 150 VNA employees will start working in the building in mid-January and Potter hopes by then to think up a name for the sculpture. He said All Care’s planners included an outdoor artwork in the plans for the new building as a way to recognize the downtown neighborhood surrounding Market and Broad streets as an area where artists live and work.
“We thought that with all the artists in the city, we should do it,” he said.
Potter said Rogers’ keyhole design is intended to symbolize All Care’s mission as an organization providing home-based health care. But he said the sculpture also symbolizes the agency’s role in helping make Market Street a growing commercial gateway into downtown.
Work started a year ago on All Care’s new headquarters and Potter said contractor Suffolk Construction is on schedule to complete the project in time for the planned Jan. 13 opening day.
The new building will feature a curved glass front facing the ocean and Boston, a rooftop deck and ground floor office space that will be held in reserve for future growth.
The first floor will also feature a main lobby with a reception area while upper floors will be organized with agency operations, billing, medical records and private duty operations on the second floor; clinical and hospice workers on the third floor and executive office, finance and human resources employees on the fourth floor.
Rogers started work two months ago on the sculpture and said he designed it to compliment All Care’s modern-looking building. He said the sculpture’s keyhole centerpiece is made from “core-ten” steel typically used in bridges and guardrails.
“It has a long life and low maintenance,” he said.
The sculpture is the third public artwork erected over the years off Broad Street between Washington and Market streets. A train sculpture graces North Shore Community College’s campus and a figure of a man sitting on books stands outside the commuter rail garage next to the VNA building.