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September 23, 2009

No sun, but here comes the sun circle

By Alan Burke

SWAMPSCOTT — The guest of honor never showed up, but dozens of enthusiastic sun lovers attended the early morning opening yesterday of the Sun Circle, a mini-Stonehenge on Preston Beach, on the Marblehead-Swampscott line.

Consisting of a ring of rock columns, the circle is meant to mark the arrival of the fall equinox (and later the various solstices and equinoxes) with a shaft of sunlight passing between two of the columns, illuminating a central monument.

"It feels great," said architect Bruce Greenwald, who hatched the idea, then designed the site and helped raise the money on behalf of the Clifton Improvement Association. "It feels wonderful."

"It's been a lot of fun to see what his vision is," said Dennis Curtin, who lives nearby.

Unfortunately, the sun never made an appearance yesterday, as skies remained cloudy. No matter, Greenwald said, the sun will eventually show, "and over the next couple of days the effect is the same."

"The guy (Don Orne) came with his peace gong," Curtin said.

Orne was accompanied by neighbors and members of the Improvement Association. Invited but apparently not attending were any Salem Wiccans. For his part, Greenwald discourages the notion that this is a religious structure.

"The sculpture is about sunrise and sunset," he said.

A teacher of astronomy spoke, explaining the circle's uses as a place to chart the movements of the sun.

Curtin saluted Greenwald, who donated both his time and expertise. "Bruce — who you might think is just the guy who did the design — he's been down in the hole for six weeks with the (construction) guys. There was an awful lot of physical labor."

The construction team "really got into it," Curtin said. And given the requirements of what is actually a primitive observatory, everything had to be done with precision. Greenwald was among those putting his back into adjusting the huge stones this way and that.

The unique project cost roughly $80,000, and supporters raised almost precisely that amount. In fact, Greenwald said, there is only $30 remaining.

"It was done on time and on budget," he said.

Even at that price, money was saved by importing columnar basalt from Washington state. These are the formations seen famously at Ireland's Devil's Causeway, columns emerging naturally from the earth. Thus the high cost of transportation could be offset by not having to carve the rock, Greenwald said.

The stones and their trip across the country consumed most of the budget, $60,000.

The new monument is on private property, "but it's open to the public," Greenwald said. Without government maintenance, however, he is seeking to raise more money for upkeep.

Half-hidden by grass, the sun circle offers the excitement of discovery, Greenwald said. And standing among the stones can be "quite calming. ... It's a place to enjoy our passage across the sun."

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