What a wonderful world

Thursday I went out to Aquarena Center in San Marcos to watch as a helicopter lifted the iconic “Morning Glories” statue from the old theme park.

The sculpture was made in 1963 by artist Buck Winn especially for the park. It had 12 structures that were molded to look like the blooms of morning glories. They lit up from the inside and had a water feature and sat at the base of the Swiss Sky Ride, which was kind of like an enclosed ski lift to the top of the highest point on the property.

A while back Aquarena Center was bought by Texas State University and was turned in to a research and educational facility, though it was still visited by nostalgic fans. Recently the decision was made to tear down most of the original park and return the area around Spring Lake (what the park is centered around) to it’s natural state.

So the question was, “what do we do with the Morning Glories?” Texas State tried to sell them, but they couldn’t find a buyer. Then they tried to give them away, but because of the cost of transporting them, no one would take them.

Buck Winn, the artist, died in 1979, and his son had health problems that prevented him from taking a stand when it came time to decide what to do with the sculpture. So it was put in the hands of Buck Winn’s grandchildren, Andrew and April (pictured at top). They went to the committee and suggested that the Morning Glories be transported to their family ranch in Wimberley, and the committee agreed. Andrew said the transport was at the Winn family’s expense, but they were content to foot the bill if it meant the sculpture wouldn’t be destroyed.

Thursday morning the Winn family, media and Aquarena fans were invited to come watch as a helicopter took the statue from San Marcos to Wimberley. I showed up early and was able to get an escort to where they were prepping for take off.

After a minute or two, everyone started clearing the area, so I went to the designated media spot – the roof of the Texas River Center, which used to be the hotel for the theme park. It was about three stories up, so I could see over the trees, but not in to the area where the sculptures were. I stayed up there to shoot while the first of six portions was removed.

After the first helicopter pass a few photographers wandered down to the sculpture site to see what we could see, but there was a fence around most of the action. I stuck my camera over the fence and got this shot, but I couldn’t get very close.

At this point I was a little underwhelmed with my shots, so I was trying to figure out a better situation. Soon someone cleared me out of the area and the helicopter came for it’s second pass. I stayed in the parking lot to try to get underneath the helicopter a little more. This is what I got:

I was slightly happier with this image because I could see more detail in the sculpture, but it still wasn’t anything terribly unique. At least five other news sources had very similar shots. So I asked around and found out I had access to the Winn family ranch in Wimberley. I didn’t have another assignment coming up, so I drove out to the ranch.

When I arrived, Andrew Winn waved me in and I was surprised to see that I was the only media member there. Several family members and friends had gathered to watch as the helicopter brought the second piece of the puzzle to the ranch. At that moment, April Winn walked in to my frame and embraced her brother. That was the shot at the top. Then as the sculpture lowered, Andrew, overcome by emotion, threw his hands up in the air and said, “yes!”

The Morning Glories will stay on the Winn’s property in the same formation as they’ve always been, including the surrounding rocks, landscaping and fountain.

I asked April what they were going to do with the Morning Glories sculpture. She said, “Love it for now.”

Andrew has bigger plans for them and is looking for funding to keep them up and use them as some kind of private venue.

“This is not the end, I don’t want people to look at it that way,” he said. “It’s the start of a new life.