The forty-year old BULL from the closed Magic Carpet Golf on Speedway found a new home last week.  The 3000 pound, 13 foot long, 9 foot high sculpture, created by the late Lee Koplin, was removed from its No 1 hole on the East course by a giant crane. It was lifted into a waiting stake-bed truck to be transported to its new home a few miles away.  The Penhall Company using a diamond blade chainsaw had cut the hoofs of the Bull away from its concrete base a few days before.

Bulls are stubborn as anyone knows that has been around them and this concrete and steel creature is no different. It insisted that it be taken to listen to some country music at the nearby Maverick, King of Clubs on its way to its new home.  The Bull named Tucson Toro wanted to meet some of the Toros baseball players signing autographs that day at the club. Toros’ owner Jay Zucker owns the nightclub.                  

With lots of Toros’ fans at the Maverick that day the Bull was very happy and even let the Toros’ Mascot “Tuffy” ride on its back while it’s new owner Sam O’Saughnessy watched. After forty years of being in the same place this day was a real treat.

That evening Tucson Toro was transported to its new home at O’Shaughnessy’s Supper Club at 2200 Camino Principal a few short blocks north of the Maverick.  The next day it was lifted into its permanent home where it is now enjoying itself listening to the “singing” waiters and waitresses at the supper club.

O’Shaughnessy has all the arts covered now…. visual, musical and culinary. It is one of the only dinner theater restaurants in the western United States with singing waiters and waitresses enjoyable to all ages. It will soon add a sign near the Bull. “The Bull needs to stay outside.”

Thanks to Sam O’Saughnessy, another Tucson icon has been saved for future generations to enjoy.

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 26th, 2009 at 10:56 pm and is filed under arts, Tucson Art. Tags for this post: Add new tag, arts, Lee Koplin, Magic Carpet, sculpture. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.