For two decades, Peter Calaboyias thought his sculpture had been stolen and sold for scrap, but he held out the hope it was languishing somewhere, a forgotten environment of stainless steel. Through the Sophie Masloff and Tom Murphy administrations, he would call the city from time to time to ask if someone would please try to find it.

	Bill Wade, Post-Gazette Peter Calaboyias with his long-lost sculpture "Five Factors" that he found in city storage under the 62nd Street Bridge Click photo for larger image.

His "Five Factors" had been one of four sculptures placed atop the garage at the Squirrel Hill branch of the Carnegie Library in 1973 as part of the "One Percent for Art in Public Places" program, which required 1 percent of the construction budget of a public building to be earmarked for art.

Four of the earliest presentations of contemporary art outdoors, they were removed at some point and have not seen the light of day since.

In February, Mr. Calaboyias called Councilman William Peduto, fairly pleading for help "to find it and display it, or I want it back," he said. Mr. Peduto heads council's committee that oversees the arts.

A month ago, Dan Gilman, Mr. Peduto's assistant, called the artist and told him to call Mark Steuber at the city warehouse under the 62nd Street Bridge.

"This guy said, 'Well, we have something here that looks like it could be sculpture,'" said Mr. Calaboyias. "I said, 'I'll be right down.'

"And there they were. My work consisted of five sections. The Tom Morandi piece was lying on its side. The [Jim] Myford piece was mixed in with other pieces of metal" that almost masked the art's integrity. "I was shocked to see them, and pleased at same time."

According to the library, the city hired Pittsburgh Restoration Services in 1994 or '95 to repair deterioration of some pieces. When the library inquired about the progress in 1996, the company had gone bankrupt. The city then moved the sculptures to the warehouse.

Yesterday, Pittsburgh City Council passed Mr. Peduto's resolution that the mayor and pertinent city departments work with local foundations and the artists (the fourth was Edward Bordas), "to restore and reinstall all four pieces at an appropriate public location," said Mr. Gilman.

Bill Wade, Post-Gazette . The 1972 stainless steel work, left, with five towers, was outside the Squirrel Hill library until it was taken away for repairs, only to go missing. Click photo for larger image.

The restoration would be done with private funds, said Mr. Calaboyias, who is meeting Duane Ashley, director of the city parks department, tomorrow "to explore possibilities of what to do with these works."

Since his early public-art endeavor, Mr. Calaboyias has gone on to design the aluminum wall above the escalators in the airside terminal of Pittsburgh International Airport and an 8-ton bronze sculpture in Centennial Park, Atlanta, for the 1996 Olympic committee.

The warehoused, '70s work had a special place in his heart because of its role in a pioneering time for public art.

"It was five units, each one a geometric form, 12 feet high, different angles, and all together they made an environment. It became like a forest that people could walk around, or read beside."

It's a little dinged here and there, he said, "but nothing that can't be repaired." Asked if he has a preference where it might go, he paused briefly, then said, "Nah, it could be OK anywhere."