After five years, Kalispell is pulling the plug on a $91,000 project to buy a heroic-sized grizzly bear statue for display at the corner of Main and Idaho streets.

Members of the Kalispell City Council on Monday voted to settle a breach of contract lawsuit files by sculptor Daniel Parker against the city.

Kalispell entered a contract for the statue with Parker in 2007. The city made an initial $10,000 payment and agreed to make additional payments at various points during production and delivery of the statue.

The contract called for the city to get the main bear statue and 30 smaller bear statues it could sell to recoup its costs for the project. But the city made no more payments and has not received any of its grizzly bears.

“For whatever reason it stalled. Both sides have differing versions,” City Manager Doug Russell told council members.

Parker filed a breach-of-contract claim in July 2011 to request compensation to finish the project. Under the settlement agreement, Kalispell will get $5,000 of its $10,000 payment back but none of the bear statues.

Mayor Tammi Fisher applauded the settlement as a long time coming.

“I appreciate it because my political beliefs are I believe in public art not funded by public dollars. It should come from private dollars,” Fisher said. “This gets $86,000 off the backs of the taxpayers.”

Kalispell also paid $35,000 for a bronze statue of two white-tailed bucks in 2008. That statue was paid for and delivered. But it has remained in wraps in city storage and not put on display at the same intersection, even after volunteers built a pedestal for it there.

Council members did not discuss that unresolved project.

“I suspect that topic will emerge at a future time,” Russell said in an email on Tuesday.

Reporter Tom Lotshaw may be reached at 758-4483 or by email at tlotshaw@dailyinterlake.com.