In Dartmouth’s past, kids and adults alike used to enjoy a thrilling ride on the Comet roller coaster at Lincoln Park. Scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology used to flock to Round Hill, not to head to the beach, but to conduct research using the large radar tower that used to be a landmark on Buzzard’s Bay.

A new sculpture is commemorating the history of those Dartmouth landmarks and others, along with the history of University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. The 350/50 sculpture, as it is called because it honors both the town’s 350th anniversary and the university's 50th anniversary, was unveiled at the UMass Dartmouth campus pond on September 30.

The sculpture was designed by art professor Stacy Latt Savage, who built it with hunks of twisted metal she received from various sources, including Lincoln Park’s Comet roller coaster, the Round Hill Radome and several local farms.

With plenty of material, Savage searched for inspiration. She found that in the Fibonacci sequence, a set of numbers in which the next number is a sum of the previous two numbers. When graphed, it produces the “golden spiral,” which can also be found in nature in leaves, flowers and other patterns.

Savage decided to build her sculpture in the shape the numbers form, finding beauty in the hidden meaning behind the sequence and its connection to the relationship between the university and the town.

“It’s a whole in perfect proportion to its parts,” Savage said at the sculpture's unveiling ceremony. “I thought ‘could you have a better metaphor for a community and a community within a community?’ The math has always been a part of [my design].”

Town Administrator David Cressman said at the ceremony that the creation of a sculpture was the perfect way to celebrate the anniversaries, noting that this is the second time the town and the university have collaborated to build a public art installation.

“Today is the culmination of a very successful venture, which one person has already whispered to me and said ‘I think you got everything you wanted and more,’” Cressman said.

He added that the sculpture will serve to remind the public of the history of Dartmouth and the two anniversaries for decades to come.

UMass Dartmouth Advancement Officer Lara Stone said the sculpture project is a symbol of the shared history of both Dartmouth and the university.

“A project like this offers us the opportunity to acknowledge our forged history and to make sure no one forgets the sacrifices that makes these things happen, on a university campus and in a community like the Town of Dartmouth,” Stone said.

The ceremony was held on the first day of the university's homecoming weekend.