The Grotto

Third generation Faux Bois (false wood) concrete artist Carlos Cortés created another spectacular addition to the river’s attractions – a fantastic grotto with craggy faces carved into cave-like walls, splashing waterfalls and surrealistic, winding passageways with eerily realistic stalagmites and stalactites. The three-story, dream-like sculpted structure is located in a bend of the river between the Camden and Newell Street bridges, adorning both roadway and riverway.

Besides the many hand-carved decorations or artist “follies,” the grotto features benches, recessed lighting, a picnic area and a street-level stairway leading into the jaws of a giant jaguar head. Directly across the river on street level, Cortés constructed a palapa – a thatched-roof shade structure with benches sprouting from wood, all carved in concrete.