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CALGARY — It sits in the middle of an intersection between two major thoroughfares connecting industrial parks, the airport and a sea of suburbs.

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It is 17 metres tall, bright blue and sports two replica lampposts sprouting from its top. It also comes with a $470,000 price tag.

It is known as Travelling Light or, colloquially, “The Giant Blue Ring” and even Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi says it’s “awful.”

Now the city has commissioned a review of its public art policy — at present, it gets 1% of funding allocated for infrastructure. Toronto and Ottawa have similar policies, but as Calgary expands so quickly does the money available for art: $30-million in the last 10 years.

The review was also inspired by the estimated cost of art on a recent light rapid transit expansion, $8.6-million.

The review, tabled Tuesday, suggests adopting a sliding scale, which would ultimately reduce spending. Calgary would continue to spend 1% of capital projects on art up to $50-million a year. After that, spending would fall to 0.5% and any single project could cost no more than $4-million.