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New Sacramento Art Piece Being Paid For With Public Funds Draws Scrutiny

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - Is it a work of art, or a complete waste?

Sacramento's latest art project is designed to ignite a social media buzz for the city. But critics say it's just a glorified wooden arch that's a waste of money.

The public is paying for the project, but its designer is confident what he considers a time machine will play a big role in Sacramento's future.

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A bunch of designers are hard at work on the project at Hacker Lab, ready to unveil their product. But what some are calling an art structure; others are calling a silly waste of money. You'll soon find it in that gated vacant section of R Street.

"Portal" is a 12-foot-tall, 8-foot-wide wooden arch with led lights, mirrors, and WiFi, which is meant to take you into Sacramento's future.

"So this is going to completely encapsulate the inside," said Tre Borden, the work's designer.

He wants you to think of the piece as a time machine.

"We really wanted to create a space that people can say here's what I want for Sacramento, take ownership of the community," said Borden.

How does it work? Anyone can try it by walking inside. It's like an outdoor patio. You can throw a party, host a yoga class, dinner party, or simply take a selfie and post it on social media and hashtag it.

"The outcome is meant to be some kind of vision document that says here's what the people say…and then hand that to Steve Hansen, a Michael Heller or any kind of policy maker who's going to make choices about what this community's looking like," said Borden.

The arch will cost about $10,000 to build. It is being partially funded by CADA, the Capital Area Development Association, a public agency. In other words, this arch being built for people to take selfies Is being paid for, in part, with taxpayer dollars.

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But some are already wondering, does Sacramento need an arch to improve its image?

Local resident Kory Berd likes the idea.

"I don't see why they shouldn't do something if they think it'll generate more culture," says Berd.

Holly Gonzales, doesn't agree with it.

"Yeah, there's other things we could be focusing our attention to," said Gonzales.

The arch is almost done. It will go from Hacker Lab to R Street in August. It will also make be taken to TBD Festival in West Sacramento in November.

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