Giant Tiki at THE HUT in Tucson with its new warm scarf (Photo by Fini Finicial)

The Giant Tiki Head, from the old Magic Carpet located at the popular nightclub THE HUT, got a surprise gift recently  to help him handle the cold climate we have been having lately.

Some of our compassionate and artistic Tucsonans appear to have spent a lot of time knitting a large warm scarf together and in the cover of darkness wrapped it around our favorite TIKI (Moai) to give it some warmth against our desert chill.

Douglas “Fini” Finicial, one of the operators of the hut and a major Tiki collector, believes the scarf was knitted and placed on the Tucson landmark as a venue for a “renegade art installation”, a peaceful movement to place positive projects around the nation.

The giant sculpture was a significant part of the former Tucson icon, Magic Carpet Golf property, on Speedway here is Tucson. The majority of the statues created by the late Lee Koplin were saved from demolition and can be seen in various businesses and homes around town. The giant Moai, now in its permanent home at The Hut, seems to have a smile on its face now that it has a new warm scarf around its neck.  How many Tikis have you seen with a hand-knitted scarf?

If any of you get to the Seattle area there are some sculptures at a bus stop in Wallingford, there that the residents of the area decorate often depending on the season. They are concrete sculptures of people and a dog or two that have received lots of loving care by the town. Sometimes they get raincoats other times warm clothes and at Christmas a little Christmas decoration.

The head, of what the Magic Carpet called Stone Face, was transported to the parking lot of The Hut on 4^th Ave. & 8^th St. December 23. It has been resting quietly there while the operators of The Hut raised the necessary funds to rebuild the steel base (to meet new City guidelines) and to pay the crane and construction costs. Totally they have committed over $60,000 to rescue this Tucson icon for future generations.  The statue was originally created by the late Lee Koplin of Magic Carpet Golf fame in approximately 1971.

Tiki Resting in parking lot

If you go by The Hut you will not be able to see the Tiki since the erection onto its new foundation this morning. The head has been wrapped awaiting the new artistic base presently in process. It will be completed on location in the next few weeks. The artist, Tom Prevatt from Amado, is creating one similar to the original sculpture from the Magic Carpet Golf property on Speedway.

On August 29,  The Hut will  hold a major event to unveil the completed statue to the public. There will be bands, Flam Chen and others performing in a great Tiki blessing ceremony. The public is invited.

To demonstrate just what it takes to move a giant sculpture over 35 feet tall and 55,000 pounds I have included some photos of the process that took place this morning.

This first photo is the Tiki head resting in the parking lot at The Hut. The task  to relocate the statue required a full crew and two cranes to right it.  The darker color is a primer and not the completed look.

The steel structure required by City building codes was fabricated by Division II of Tucson and engineered by local Galileo Construction Company. An artistic outer sculptured base is in process and will be attached to this structure soon.

Steel foundation structure for Tiki head

To right the resting Tiki required two massive cranes and several crewmembers.

Once the giant Tiki was righted then one crane moved away and the larger of the two cranes was reconnected.

One Massive crane lifting Tiki

Once connected the crane rose the Tiki up and onto the steel support structure.

Finally the head rested on top of the new support structure and then welded to the new base. The outer frame used for the initial relocation will be removed.

Old Stone Face from the Magic Carpet now has a new home and Tucson has a new three-story landmark. In the future visitors to downtown can just tell their friends “meet me under the Tiki on 4^th Ave.”  It will be easy to find since it is the tallest structure on the avenue.

If you weren’t in Tucson in December and missed all the media coverage you will be happy to know that the tallest sculpture in Tucson was saved and will soon be unveiled August 29.

Giant Tiki from the Magic Carpet by John Meyer

The three stories Tiki head from the closed Magic Carpet golf property on Speedway was rescued by the nightclub The Hut located at 8th St. and 4th Ave. At a cost of over $30,000 to remove and transport it to their location they are now spending another $30,000 to build a new base. (Required by new city building codes) They have started construction today. The August event will be the unveiling day with a traditional Tiki ceremony performed along with a closed street celebration. The public is invited.

Funding for the rescuing of the giant folk art sculpture has been done through personal funds, community donations, T-shirt sales and fund raisers. June 20 The Hut is hosting a “Raise the Tiki” golf tournament at the Star Pass Resort. All proceeds go for erecting the giant Tiki on the newly constructed base. Information on the tournament can be found at http://www.rescuethetiki.org/golf.php

The Magic Carpet Golf property located at 6125 Speedway Ave. in Tucson had become a real Tucson icon for the last 40 years. Literally tens of thousands of individuals and families enjoyed miniature golf among the unique hand crafted sculptures created by the late Lee Koplin. Mr. Koplin was responsible for changing the look of miniature golf courses throughout America and had several Magic Carpet parks in the U. S. There are only a few courses left today.

When the late Mel Williams, partner and operator, passed away in late 2007 the property was sold to the Chapman Automotive group. Chapman had plans to extend their nearby Mercedes dealership on the property and offered the historic Valley of the Moon an opportunity to use the facility as a fund raiser and to find homes for the unique statues saving them from demolition.

State Representative and artist Steve Farley made the community aware of the need to save the statues and asked me to represent the Valley of the Moon and find homes for all the statues saving them for future generations of Tucsonans to enjoy. We have found homes for all except the Sphinx. Care to adopt it?

*Note pictures and locations of other Magic Carpet sculptures will be featured in future articles.