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City council has punched itself in the face.

It has taken a public art policy that was already controversial and made it radioactive by erecting the single most expensive piece of public art in Edmonton’s history on top of an industrial garage on a grimy section of a commuter road.

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This is the equivalent of you splurging on the most expensive painting, photograph or sculpture you’ve ever purchased, then putting it above your back alley garage door.

Yet council approved a $1-million sculpture that’s now been built on the new city transit garage on Fort Road.

Photo by Ian Kucerak / Postmedia

This decision was wrong-headed in several ways.

First, council spent a ton of money on public art. This is always a touchy thing to do but especially so in a time when many folks are unemployed, under-employed or fearing unemployment, and when city council has also raised taxes dramatically over a 15-year span.

Next, this piece of art hasn’t been built in a downtown square or in a major park, where the masses of people can walk up to it, take an Instagram shot, and generally have the time and space to comprehend whatever magnificence or transcendence the sculpture (or series of five sculptures in this case) might evoke.