Client: Santa Barbara Courthouse Legacy Foundation

Overview

The Scansite 3D team was selected to be part of this exciting historic restoration project. By combining our 3D engineering skills and master stone carvers, the 1927 sandstone fountain was recreated in Santa Barbara, CA.
In front of the Courthouse’s great arch, The Spirit Of The Ocean Fountain is an impressive architectural feature.
Originally carved in 1927 by Ettore Cadorin, it had been decomposing for decades, losing more than 80 percent of its original form.
For the restoration of the beloved sculpture, the Santa Barbara Courthouse Legacy Foundation raised almost a million dollars. In collaboration with our experienced 3D scanning engineers, a CNC milled foam replica of the existing fountain was created from Scansite’s 3D data. That life-size model served as a reference for the master stone cravers as they recreated the fountain’s exact replacement. In keeping with the original artist’s material choice, Legacy Foundation sourced new sandstone blocks from a local quarry near the Courthouse. Nick Blantern and his team at British StoneWorks successfully completed the fountain using a combination of ancient carving techniques and modern tools. A Grand Pinnacle Award was presented to the fountain by the Marble Institute of America in 2011.

Goals

Restore the communities beloved sculpture using modern technology and traditional stone carving techniques used by the original artist.