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By Scott McFetridge

The Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa 鈥� A Des Moines arts organization is preparing to rip out a groundbreaking artwork that lines a pond in a historic city park, surprising the New York artist who created the work decades ago and leading to an outpouring of opposition by other artists and residents.

The decision to remove the work 鈥� a series of walkways, shelters and viewing sites called Greenwood Pond: Double Site designed by artist Mary Miss 鈥� has outraged arts advocates nationally and surprised residents, who have grown accustomed to meandering through the site. But the Des Moines Art Center, which oversees the artwork, said the largely wooden structures need repairs that would cost $2.6 million, and future maintenance would cost millions of dollars more.

Art Center Director Kelly Baum said there is no way to raise enough money to pay for the work, so demolition will begin this spring.

鈥淚t鈥檚 difficult and it鈥檚 challenging and it鈥檚 very, very unfortunate for me, for the board, for the staff and for the city, and I know for Mary,鈥� Baum said.

The decision has stunned Miss, who considers completion of the permanent exhibit in 1996 as a high point in her long career as a land artist. Such artworks are created using land formations and natural features like rocks and plants.

Although demolition seems imminent, Miss said she thinks the artwork will somehow be saved.

鈥淚 would be shocked if it was just torn out,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 deserve it. People don鈥檛 deserve to have that happen.鈥�

The art center invited Miss, an internationally known land artist, in the 1980s to propose a permanent exhibit. She suggested they overhaul a much-loved but dilapidated pond down a hill from the art center in the city鈥檚 130-year-old Greenwood Park. The park is sandwiched between some of the city鈥檚 most opulent neighborhoods and connects to an even larger park and miles of walking trails.

After talking with neighbors, art patrons, gardening club members and naturalists, Miss designed Greenwood Pond: Double Site on a 6.5-acre strip around the water. Completed over six years, the artwork lets people become immersed in a wetland with numerous viewing sites, from a sunken walkway that puts water at eye level to an elevated platform that gives a sweeping view of the pond.

The artwork received national acclaim, and landscape art and architecture students now study the site to understand how Miss melded the wooden structures with the natural environment.

Materials include metal mesh, concrete and most visibly treated lumber that over the years has deteriorated in Iowa鈥檚 icy winters and hot, humid summers. The art center paid for a restoration in 2015 but said that after nearly a decade, an engineering study had determined that the artwork has deteriorated to the point of being hazardous in spots.

Last month, the center blocked access to some parts of the exhibit and soon after notified Miss that it would be removed entirely.

Greenwood Pond: Double Site clearly needs repairs, Miss acknowledged, but noted her contract with the art center specified that the exhibit is a permanent artwork and not one to be torn out after three decades. She also questioned how the art center let it deteriorate, its cost estimate for repairs and why it鈥檚 unwilling to launch a fundraising campaign to finance needed fixes.

Miss asked the art center to make public the engineering report that details problems and the cost of repairs. Baum said the center won鈥檛 make its internal documents public.

Numerous artists, organizations and Des Moines residents have joined with Miss and demanded that the art center stop its plans to demolish the exhibit. Stephanie Daggett Joiner and her husband, David Joiner, who live about a mile from the pond, have been helping organize local opposition to the artwork鈥檚 removal, including聽the .

Stephanie Daggett Joiner said she would see removal of the artwork as a personal loss.

鈥淚 think it’s really incredible in the summer when the flowers are blooming and you have the prairie and the birds; it鈥檚 delightful to many senses,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t gives you a sense of peace.鈥�

R.J. Tursi, who visited the pond with his two young children recently, said one of the reasons his family lives in the neighborhood is to be close to the park.

鈥淲e see ducks down here,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey see frogs and turtles, different birds like red-wing blackbirds and mourning doves. The idea of a ton of construction coming in and ripping this stuff out is disappointing.鈥�

The Cultural Landscape Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based education, and advocacy organization, has made preservation of Greenwood Pond: Double Site a priority, informing other artists and seeking media attention. Later this month, the group will host an online program bringing together land artists to discuss the vulnerability of such artworks.

Charles A. Birnbaum, the foundation鈥檚 president and CEO, said the work was a milestone in the land art movement. Most early land artists were men, so Miss鈥� role in the field was especially noteworthy, Birnbaum said, and makes the potential loss in Des Moines even more troubling.

鈥淲hat we see is we have these situations where the landscape is malnourished, the landscape is not cared for, it鈥檚 underserved, and then the landscape itself is blamed for not looking better,鈥� he said.