Downtown San Antonio is about to be graced with another giant sculpture to go along with the stately Alamo Cenotaph and the fiery “Torch of Friendship.”
Known as La Mariposa, the new sculpture, consisting of three canopies of LED-lighted triangular panels colored with the amber-colored patterns of monarch butterfly wings, is now under construction as part of the Monarch San Antonio luxury hotel at Hemisfair.
The hotel is set to open on March 3, and the sculpture, in a pavilion outside the hotel, will also open to the public that day, according to a news release.
La Mariposa, Spanish for “the butterfly,” is intended to evoke the migration of the monarch butterfly between Canada and Mexico, according to the hotel’s website.
The hotel’s developers told MySA earlier this month that they hope the sculpture will have the same iconic draw as The Bean in Millennium Park in Chicago. When finished, it will consist of dozens of 350-pound stained-glass pieces and two miles of LED lights.
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The hotel is being developed by local company Zachry Hospitality.
“Designed in collaboration with local artists and architectural partners, the three-winged, light-filled structure serves as both a visual and emotional anchor for the property,” the hotel stated in a news release. “By day, its stained glass reflects the shifting landscape; by night, it glows softly, casting a warm light visible from the rooftop terrace. La Mariposa offers a striking backdrop for gatherings and a lasting symbol of resilience and beauty.”
The 200-room Monarch San Antonio will be among San Antonio’s ritziest hotels, with rates starting around $599 a night, said Rick Slutter, managing director at Zachry Hotels, in an interview last month.
The $185 million hotel sits on land the San Antonio company is subleasing from the Hemisfair Park Area Redevelopment Corp. and is part of a larger effort to revitalize the site of the 1968 World’s Fair – a monumental event the Zachry family helped attract and built the Hilton Palacio del Rio across the street for.
Madison Iszler contributed to this report.
This article originally published at Downtown San Antonio to get new mega-sized sculpture at Hemisfair.