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Attempt To Honor Ends Up A Bust

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By STEPHEN THOMPSON and RAY REYES

The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 20, 2008

ST. PETERSBURG - A motorist approaching the Sunshine Skyway on Wednesday morning noticed a bust planted on a concrete abutment on the side of the road.

The driver thought the bust was that of Adela Gonzmart, the matriarch of Ybor City's Columbia restaurant, whose bronze likeness outside the restaurant disappeared in February, police said.

Instead, police discovered, it was the visage of Richard H. "Dick" Misener, who built bridges, marinas and ports throughout the country before he died in 1987 at the age of 70. The company he founded, Misener Marine, is still in operation in Tampa.

No one knows who put the bust on the abutment Wednesday morning.

The sculptor who crafted a mold years ago in Misener's image, however, said the bust was in the right place.

"They put it on the bridge named after him," St. Petersburg artist Joe Ierna said of the approach to the Sunshine Skyway.

When local media thought the sculpture was the missing Gonzmart statue, reporters and television station helicopters converged on the site. One cameraman was almost hit by a passing car, police spokesman Bill Proffitt said.

Ierna's name was stamped on the back of the statue, Proffitt said.

Investigators went to a statuary business in St. Petersburg, where the staff told investigators Ierna had done a bust of Misener.

Thinking the bust was stolen, investigators then went to Woodlawn Memory Garden to a mausoleum for Misener and saw the bronze bust of the marina magnate in its proper place, Proffitt said.

The one on the abutment appears to have been made from the same mold, he said.

It was, Ierna said Wednesday.

Misener's widow, Mary Jane, had asked the artist to create a bronze bust of her husband in 1982, Ierna said.

"It was a surprise gift," Ierna said.

Mary Jane Misener commissioned two more bronze sculptures, one for their home and another for one of Richard Misener's many businesses.

When the busts were complete, Ierna said he gave the mold to the family. After her husband's death, Mary Jane Misener moved to a new home and the mold "got lost in the shuffle somehow," Ierna said.

"Nobody thought about it because Dick was gone and life goes on," Ierna said.

Mary Jane Misener declined to comment Wednesday.

The glue affixing the bust to the statue was still wet when it was spotted at 8:16 a.m. Wednesday, police said. Ierna said he does not think the statue was displayed maliciously, but rather in honor of Misener.

Florida Department of Transportation officials chiseled the bust from the abutment without damaging it, Proffitt said.

The concrete likeness of Misener is being held in St. Petersburg police's property department for safekeeping.

Reporter Josh Poltilove and researcher Buddy Jaudon contributed to this report. Reporter Stephen Thompson can be reached at (727) 451-2336 or spthompson@tampatrib .com. Reporter Ray Reyes can be reached at (813) 259-7920 or rreyes@tampatrib.com.

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