The building of a proposed neighborhood symbol on the corner of Sunset and Santa Monica Boulevards in Silver Lake has been pushed back due to lack of funds. After winning the Envisioning Silver Lake competition last summer, LA firm ALLTHATISSOLID (ATIS) has been working with the city’s Bureau of Street Services (BSS) to scale back and refine the design, called “Bloomrs,” to fit the $100,000 budget with room for curbing and other street improvements included. The saddle-shaped structure, made of Cor-ten steel, has already been re-designed to occupy a smaller footprint and rises to a shorter height.

The funding hiccup seems to have its roots in the hazy project scope, presented during the competition. “Our budget allocated for everything that we designed, but it didn’t include street improvements and curbing and intersection reconfiguration,” said Heather McGinn, partner at ATIS, who further clarified that the original proposal was only $6,000 over the $100,000 budget, set aside from the state’s $1.5 million Metro Call for Projects program. ATIS and the bureau are now trying to secure additional funds, estimated around $50,000 to $70,000, said Robert Gutierrez, Streetscape Section Supervisor of BSS. Pending funding and design, the “saddle” should be ready by Spring 2013.