Downtown Snoqualmie business owner Wendy Thomas let out several audible groans of disappointment after seeing the two big, plastic-wrapped slabs of basalt go up across the street from her business.

Thomas had earlier approached the Snoqualmie City Council to prevent the erection of the stones, but evidently plans moved ahead for the art installation, anyway.

The pillars are part of Snoqualmie’s $2.3 million downtown infrastructure renewal project. Positioned on the corner of Highway 202 and River Street, the sculptures are meant to draw pedestrians down to the corners and, with luck, around to Falls Avenue businesses including Thomas’s own hardware store.

I listened as the flagger with Sanders Construction urged her to give them a chance, adding that they’re probably here to stay: the stones are sunk several feet into the ground. In other words, get used to them.

Old adages tell us that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and one person’s junk is another man’s treasure. While modern and certainly impactful, the pillars are the sculptural new kid on the block. Downtown Snoqualmie already boasts a big industrial mill wheel, a totem pole and an old-fashioned clock — not to mention a railroad car or two. Consistency may be an issue here.

Let’s hope the cost and effort of installing the monoliths is outweighed by the economic benefits they are meant to bring.

What do you think about the sculptures? Let me know at editor@valleyrecord.com.