COEUR d'ALENE - The public has an opportunity to weigh in on the next sculpture that will be erected in McEuen Park, but you better hurry because voting will wrap up after the McEuen open house on Saturday.

The four finalists are on display in the upper level at the Coeur d'Alene Public Library, along with comment forms for public input.

The city of Coeur d'Alene's Arts Commission is planning to select the winner beginning next week. The winning piece will be located at the Third Street entrance of the park.

The city posted "a call for artists" on an Internet site called "CAFE," or www.callforentry.org. Steve Anthony, city recreation director, said the website generated more than 120 submittals.

"The way we used to do it, we would only get around 30 submittals," he said. "Now we get anywhere from 120 to 160 submittals to choose from."

From that list of submittals, the Arts Commission narrows them down to the final four. The final four artists' names were not available Wednesday, but the projects selected for the Third Street entrance are:

* "Purple Cone Flowers" - The artist said the piece represents the ever-changing transition taking place in society between the old and the new. It consists of 16 brightly colored purple cone flowers that stand 14.5 to 15.5 feet high. The sculpture also includes two "larger than life" chairs.

* "What We Love" - The artist said this is a sculpture of five similar shapes, and depending on the angle of the viewer, the shapes could resemble question marks, heart lobes or even sprouts. The sculptures vary in size from 32 inches high to 14 feet high. The sculpture will include LED lighting, which will light up when motion detectors are activated. It includes other interactive components as well.

* "Stainless Steel 'Stylistic' Dandelions" - The artist said this sculpture is a composition of three pieces. The piece is kinetic. Thousands of wind-activated star shapes make up the dandelion heads, catching and reflecting light, bending slightly in a natural, plant-like manner. Visitors may be able to hear the subtle tinkling of the stars in the wind.

* "Play Together - Stay Together" - The artist says this piece of art uses a school of fish to express how public places create common ground where people can meet and share with each other, while expressing a sense of community. The playful shape and implied motion of the artwork represents an active and vibrant community.

The first piece of art for the McEuen project, "Under the Rainbow," was selected in August, and will stand at the Fourth Street entrance to the park. That piece generated some controversy, from people who felt they had no input in the selection process.

That has prompted Anthony to make a stronger effort to get more public input. He recently extended the comment period for this round of art to coincide with the McEuen Park open house on Saturday from 2 to 6 p.m.

Citizens are encouraged to come and walk through the finished portions of the park and then visit the library to vote on the next sculpture.

After the Third Street piece is selected, the Arts Commission will display the final piece of art for McEuen Park. The final four pieces of interactive art will be displayed at the library toward the end of this month or beginning of November. That piece will be located at the confluence of trails that run through the park.

The money for the pieces is generated by an ordinance the city passed in 1999, which sets aside 1.33 percent of any public works project that is built above ground.

For instance, Anthony said the above ground tanks at the sewage treatment plant do generate money for the Arts Commission, but all the pipes below ground do not.

"We had an Arts Commission before that ordinance passed, but they had no funding mechanism," Anthony said, adding that 1 percent is spent on the actual art piece and .33 percent is used for ongoing maintenance.

Lake City Development Corp. also commits a portion of its budget to the commission. In the Lake District, which includes McEuen Park, it contributed roughly $80,000 this year. In the River District, which includes Riverstone, LCDC contributed $33,000.

"The LCDC money has to be spent in the district that generated it,"Anthony said.

By contrast, the money generated by public works projects generated very little money this year because there were very few above-ground public works projects last year.

Anthony said widening Government Way from Dalton to Hanley only generated $97, and the new traffic signal at Third Street and Harrison generated about $270. The Sewer Treatment plant revenue has yet to be calculated, but that is not likely to amount to much either.

"We really haven't had that many public works projects in the past five years," he said, adding the Arts Commission banks that money until they have enough for another project.

Anthony said the Lake District account has $324,000 in it, but most of that is earmarked for the McEuen Park project. The River District has accumulated $212,000 and the Public Works account $79,000

The commission holds a workshop annually to determine its master plan for the upcoming year, and how the money will be spent, Anthony said.

After the McEuen pieces are selected, Anthony said the next project to be selected will be located near the Prairie Trail in Riverstone.