On Monday, artist Larry Robjent installed the latest insect in the Saranac Lake Bug Crawl, a metallic firefly sculpture made of a repurposed fire extinguisher, at Ward Plumadore Park on the corner of Broadway and Bloomingdale Avenue.

Members of the village Community Enhancement Fund — a volunteer subcommittee made up of two members from each of village’s three advisory boards which commissioned the six-legged installation — gathered at the park to see the idea hatch.

Downtown Advisory Board Chair Jerry Michael said the subcommittee members wanted to dress up the new park and make it more inviting.

Ward Plumadore Park underwent a major renovation with funds from the Downtown Revitalization Initiative grant the village got in 2018. But members said they’ve heard and felt that the park with concrete walls is a bit cold. So they’re taking several artistic initiatives to spruce the place up.

Local artist Larry Robjent installs a firefly sculpture in Ward Plumadore Park in Saranac Lake on Monday. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

“We knew we wanted to christen it with a bug,” Trustee Kelly Brunette said

The firefly is the Bug Crawl’s eight bug and its first interactive one. A lever behind the insect lifts the wings, like a real firefly’s. The antennae can be bent and manipulated. And at night, three solar lights in the bug’s rump light up, imitating the glow of a firefly which comes from the chemical luciferin.

Fireflies use their lights for mating communication.

The subcommittee knew of the plans for Ward Plumadore Park when they started the Bug Crawl back in 2020 and always planned on having a bug there.

Robjent used donated metal from the original haul — including a shovel, doorknob, lighting fixtures and electrical wiring.

Local artist Larry Robjent installs a firefly sculpture in Ward Plumadore Park in Saranac Lake on Monday. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

It was fun to research fireflies, he said, learning about their anatomy and their unique bioluminescence. The solar lights, though five-star rated on Amazon, will likely eventually die, but Robjent said he bought a dozen, so they can be replaced.

The village is also commissioning Tupper Lake-based blacksmith Dan King to craft a steel mural-sculpture hybrid on the wall. The neighboring Bitters and Bones brewery has also been sponsoring music in the park on Saturdays, and local musician Wayne Holtz recently organized a music festival in the park.