The giant dinosaur was moved last week.
Tucson’s Charlie Spillar may not have parted the Red Sea, but he has moved mountainous structures.
Spillar found new homes for a gaggle of giant golf course statues that were destined for the dump.
Spillar’s efforts have been noticed, now very publicly with a certificate awarded to him by the Tucson Mayor and City Council at Tuesday’s Council meeting.
The structures included a 50,000-pound tiki head, a 17-foot monkey, a 15,000-pound T-Rex, a sizable skull and a behemoth bull. Many went to private homes, others to area businesses.
Artist Lee Koplin created the cement statues more than 30 years ago and they were part of Magic Carpet Golf, 6125 E. Speedway Blvd., which is now slated to become a car lot.
“I did a sculpture that took more than 1,000 hours and it ended up in a landfill,” said artist Spillar, who doubles as the spokesman for the 1920s-era fantasyland Valley of the Moon.
“That’s the main reason I have been trying to save these Magic Carpet Golf gentle creatures from a similar fate.”
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I would have loved to have one of the things in my yard but I’m burdened with an HOA.
Any comment from folks who took one of the statues to a new home?
What about from folks who have the statues as a new neighbor?
Would you want to live next to a 17-foot monkey?
New dinosaur owner Steve Kippur of AMCEP Metals makes friends with his new yard mate, a 15,000-pound T-Rex.
The dinosaur was moved last week.
Charlie Spillar's giant buzzard statue took more than 1,000 hours to create and ended up in a landfill.