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Updated (with pictures): Winds Damage F.I.S.H. Sculpture On Museum Reach

(Update: 12:35 p.m.) Staffers have cleaned up the fallen pieces and SARA now says they have re-opened the west bank side of the river.

The other side -- the wider east bank of the river -- is still closed so that crews with equipment can access the sculptures for assessment and repair. Visitors can use the stairways to go up to street level and back down again on the other side.

The damage noted by SARA: One of the fish fell down completely, one is barely hanging on and some of the other seven-foot-long sculptures were broken apart by the winds.

(Original Post: 7:25 a.m.) The San Antonio River Authority announced late Monday that parts of the fish sculpture that hangs under I-35 had been damaged by the strong winds reaching up to 55 mph.

The F.I.S.H. art installation, created by Philadelphia artistDonaldLipski, was installed when the Museum Reach was opened in 2009. The artwork is a cluster of 25 hand-painted, long-eared sunfish, a species native to the San Antonio River. Each of the fiberglass fish is 7 feet long.

Some of the fish were broken by the winds and San Antonio River Authority officials said they feared some of the pieces could fall and injure pedestrians or cyclists.

The River Authority closed both sides of the I-35 section of the Riverwalk Monday afternoon until repairs can be made.

Eileen Pace is a veteran radio and print journalist with a long history of investigative and feature reporting in San Antonio and Houston, earning more than 50 awards for investigative reporting, documentaries, long-form series, features, sports stories, outstanding anchoring and best use of sound.