A NEW HOME FOR LOVELAND’S EQUINOX
On Wednesday morning, Jack Kreutzer and Doug Rutledge were reunited with an old friend. As two of the three creators behind one of the most iconic art pieces in Loveland, both were on hand as the twisting railroad tracks of Equinox were lifted skyward once again.
“Nothing is quite identical on the project,” Rutledge said as he watched a crew from LPR Construction tie one of three pieces of track to a crane; the third artist behind Equinox, Doug Erion, was expected to be on site later. “The columns are a little bit different and even the horses are slightly different because of the way they’re mounted.”
For a little more than five years, the monumental Equinox served as the gateway to Loveland from its perch on the U.S. 34-Interstate 25 overpass. Towering 50 feet in the air, it features three blue stainless steel horses galloping over railway tracks, which Rutledge said was a nod to Loveland’s early days.
Each of the horses is also adorned with symbols of Loveland history, including a Mobius heart hand-cast by Kreutzer.
“You couldn’t have a Loveland thing without a heart,” Rutledge said.
In January 2020, Equinox was removed to make way for the I-25 North Express Lanes project and the city started searching for a new home for the largest public art piece in its extensive inventory.
This turned out to be a yearslong process, thanks first to the COVID-19 pandemic and then later to the vagaries of government bureaucracy. The site on the northbound side of I-25 at the Ranch Events Complex was identified in 2021, but it took another two years to negotiate the details with Larimer County and select a contractor for the job.
Reinstallation finally began earlier this month, led by general contractor Hoff Construction. Crews leveled the ground around the site and then poured its concrete mounts.
Installing the columns and lifting the sculpture pieces into place was originally scheduled for Monday, but delayed two days due to the weekend snowstorm.
But, by Wednesday morning, crews from LPR Construction and Winslow Cranes were busy preparing to mount the first sculpture pieces into place.
For LPR crew supervisor Pete Storle, the installation of the sixpiece sculpture definitely has its share of challenges. “The tilt is the most challenging,” he said, referring to the 15-degree mounting angle for the three track pieces. “…There’s nothing in the crane that tells you when you’ve got the right angle.”
The horses will be the easier part, Storle continued, since those are the only parts of the feature that are vertical. He expects to finish adding those on Thursday.
Veteran crane operator Cody Simon agreed with Storle that the 13-ton sculpture’s tilt requires a little more finesse than usual, but nothing that his rig can’t handle. “Double-lining is the term for it,” Simon said, referring to the use of two independent
hooks to lift the pieces. “When you’re tipping stuff like this, it just depends on the job. And this job needs it.”
As they watched Storle, Simon and the rest of the crew continue, Kreutzer and Rutledge both said that they prefer Equinox at its new site, with the sky and mountains as a backdrop. It’s more visible there, they said, and curious viewers will have a chance to stop see it in more detail. But most of all, they were excited to see their beloved Equinox back in a place where everyone can enjoy it. “I missed it,” Rutledge said.