{"id":22693,"date":"2016-03-30T14:17:55","date_gmt":"2016-03-30T20:17:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=22693"},"modified":"2018-06-01T10:25:17","modified_gmt":"2018-06-01T16:25:17","slug":"mountain-lion-finds-new-home-on-el-pomar-plaza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=22693","title":{"rendered":"Mountain lion finds new home on El Pomar Plaza"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"740\" height=\"417\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/18Y-3m-qZP0?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p>A 3,800-pound fixture of the university found a new campus home during spring break.<\/p>\n<p>After months of planning by the Facilities Services Department, the marble mountain lion was moved from its home since 2004 at the entrance to the University Center to a position of prominence in front of El Pomar Center. The March 25 move was carefully orchestrated with the help of Nunn Construction and under the watchful eye of campus leaders and the mountain lion&#8217;s benefactor, Chan Bergen.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_1419-2.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-22701\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-22701\" src=\"http:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_1419-2-300x450.jpg\" alt=\"IMG_1419-2\" width=\"300\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_1419-2-300x450.jpg 300w, https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_1419-2-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_1419-2-750x1125.jpg 750w, https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_1419-2-100x150.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>For more than two hours, and using tools that ranged from wood wedges to a diesel-powered crane, Nunn employees carefully cradled and moved the mountain lion to a new 11,000 pound granite pedestal. Before a covey of spectators, a crane operator gently lifted the mountain lion and swung it into place onto a flatbed truck near the University Center. The truck, led by a police escort, made its way up the pedestrian spine before the operator again hoisted the mountain lion and set it atop the new pedestal. By summer, the mountain lion&#8217;s new home will be dressed with granite paving stones, flower beds and lighting to flatter the masterpiece created from Colorado marble by sculptor Ernest Geolfos, Broomfield.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Where folks now see sand will be pavers of the same granite as the base but without a polished surface,&#8221; Carolyn Fox, executive director of planning, design and construction and university architect, Facilities Services, said. &#8220;The Grounds Department is designing flower beds for where there is now just mud and conduit is already there for lights.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Plans for a new and improved mountain lion display were created by Charles Cummings, project manager, Facilities Services, in response to an idea hatched by Chancellor Pam Shockley-Zalabak in coordination with Bergen, the benefactor who made the statue possible.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_22699\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22699\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_1408-2.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-22699\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-22699 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_1408-2-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"IMG_1408-2\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_1408-2-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_1408-2-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_1408-2-750x500.jpg 750w, https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_1408-2-150x100.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-22699\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Chan Bergen, in white hat, sits with campus leadership and staff watching the sculpture as it is lifted to a flatbed truck.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In 2004, Bergen donated the mountain lion to honor his late wife, Melitta. The couple was married for more than 50 years following Melitta (Kiilits) Bergen\u2019s escape from war-torn Estonia. Chan Bergen served in the U.S. Army, retiring as a lieutenant colonel in 1963. He later joined the staff of Western Horseman magazine and retired as its director and editor in 1985.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to his donation of the mountain lion statue, Bergen is a supporter of the Kraemer Family Library and Heller Center for Arts and Humanities at UCCS. The Bergens also established a trust to support the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at CU Boulder.<\/p>\n<p>Geolfos created the mountain lion sculpture as part of his focus on North American wildlife. In his quest for perfection, Geolfos has created new tools for marble sculpting and developed unique methods for scraping and polishing. These techniques give his statues a unique look and texture.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_22697\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22697\" style=\"width: 750px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"http:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_1328-2.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-22697\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-22697 size-large\" src=\"http:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_1328-2-750x500.jpg\" alt=\"IMG_1328-2\" width=\"750\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_1328-2-750x500.jpg 750w, https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_1328-2-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_1328-2-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_1328-2-150x100.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-22697\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Donor Chan Bergen and Chancellor Pam Shockley-Zalabak<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_22698\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22698\" style=\"width: 750px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"http:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_1346-2.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-22698\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-22698 size-large\" src=\"http:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_1346-2-750x1125.jpg\" alt=\"IMG_1346-2\" width=\"750\" height=\"1125\" srcset=\"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_1346-2-750x1125.jpg 750w, https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_1346-2-300x450.jpg 300w, https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_1346-2-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_1346-2-100x150.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-22698\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Senior Vice Chancellor Martin Wood and donor Chan Bergen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_1415-2.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-22700\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-22700\" src=\"http:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_1415-2-750x500.jpg\" alt=\"IMG_1415-2\" width=\"750\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_1415-2-750x500.jpg 750w, https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_1415-2-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_1415-2-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_1415-2-150x100.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_1487-2.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-22705\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-22705\" src=\"http:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_1487-2-750x500.jpg\" alt=\"IMG_1487-2\" width=\"750\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_1487-2-750x500.jpg 750w, https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_1487-2-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_1487-2-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_1487-2-150x100.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_1502-2.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-22706\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-22706\" src=\"http:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_1502-2-750x500.jpg\" alt=\"IMG_1502-2\" width=\"750\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_1502-2-750x500.jpg 750w, https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_1502-2-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_1502-2-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_1502-2-150x100.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_1515-2.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-22707\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-22707\" src=\"http:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_1515-2-750x500.jpg\" alt=\"IMG_1515-2\" width=\"750\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_1515-2-750x500.jpg 750w, https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_1515-2-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_1515-2-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_1515-2-150x100.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_22709\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22709\" style=\"width: 750px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"http:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_1532-2.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-22709\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-22709 size-large\" src=\"http:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_1532-2-750x500.jpg\" alt=\"IMG_1532-2\" width=\"750\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_1532-2-750x500.jpg 750w, https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_1532-2-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_1532-2-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_1532-2-150x100.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-22709\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Crew from Nunn Construction<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_22710\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22710\" style=\"width: 750px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"http:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_1535-2.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-22710\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-22710 size-large\" src=\"http:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_1535-2-750x500.jpg\" alt=\"IMG_1535-2\" width=\"750\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_1535-2-750x500.jpg 750w, https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_1535-2-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_1535-2-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_1535-2-150x100.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-22710\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gary Reynolds, assistant vice chancellor, Administration Administration and Finance, and Carolyn Fox, executive director, Facilities Services<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8212; Footage\u00a0by Jeffrey M Foster and Joanna Bean, editing by Jeffrey M Foster<\/em><br \/>\n<em>&#8212; Photos by Jeffrey M Foster<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>A 3,800-pound fixture of the university found a new campus home during spring break. After months of planning by the Facilities Services Department, the marble mountain lion was moved from its home since 2004 at <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=22693\" title=\"Mountain lion finds new home on El Pomar Plaza\">(More)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":22711,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1,13,22],"tags":[44,197],"class_list":["post-22693","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all","category-photo-features","category-video","tag-administration-and-finance","tag-photo-feature"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/0-2.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1mBpJ-5U1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22693","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22693"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22693\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22725,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22693\/revisions\/22725"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/22711"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}