Despite protests from the artist, a sculpture that has occupied a prominent spot at Pittsburgh International Airport since the passenger terminal opened in 1992 will be grounded for good.

After several months of discussion, the Allegheny County Airport Authority has decided to remove Peter Calaboyias' Silver Grid Wall from a wall above the escalators in the airport's Airside building once it finds an advertiser for the space.

"It's really not a question of art. It's a question of a revenue opportunity. So that makes it more of a business decision," authority spokeswoman JoAnn Jenny said yesterday.

The authority board is expected to vote today on a measure to remove the sculpture, 78 feet long and 8 feet high, "should a beneficial revenue opportunity for the airport develop."

Ms. Jenny said the sculpture will remain in place until an advertiser is found but then will come down for good. It most likely will be stored at that point unless someone offers to display it elsewhere in the region.

"There really is no other location in the airport right now," she said.

The decision to remove it is driven by the airport's desire to maximize advertising revenue to help keep its costs competitive, particularly with high fuel prices and the repeated US Airways cutbacks in Pittsburgh.

Airport officials estimate the space could generate about $16,000 a month in advertising revenue. The airport currently doesn't have anyone lined up to take the space, although UPMC was interested at one point.

"The airport has to explore these types of opportunities, especially with the current climate," Ms. Jenny said.

Mr. Calaboyias said he would try one last time today to get the board to reconsider. In December, he had appealed to local politicians and the board to block the removal of the sculpture, gaining a temporary reprieve.

"They should be bringing in revenue through aviation, not by taking down art," he said.

Any potential advertiser is getting the space at "the expense of the art for the entire region," he added. "The airport is just giving it away, really."

State Sen. Jim Ferlo, who has supported Mr. Calaboyias in his bid to keep the sculpture in place, called the decision to remove it "reprehensible."

"Personally I'm sick and tired of all the gratuitous advertising everywhere in our face. So, obviously, if I were on that board I would be anathema to this action," he said.

Mr. Ferlo said that if the board does remove the work, it should competitively bid the space that will be used for advertising, find another appropriate location for Silver Grid Wall, and offer Mr. Calaboyias space elsewhere at the airport to do "another significant work."

Ms. Jenny said the removal of the sculpture is part of a broader effort by the authority to rethink the use of airport space for advertising purposes.

The transformation of the airport from a connecting hub for US Airways to one driven primarily by local traffic has changed people patterns throughout the terminal and made entry and exit points like the escalators below the sculpture prime advertising opportunities, she said.

Authority officials want whatever is placed in the Silver Grid Wall space to feature a message welcoming travelers to Pittsburgh along with the advertising, Ms. Jenny said.

The authority plans to put together a panel of art experts to guide it on ways to present public art at the airport in the future.