Getting a head in this world

I have today off work, so what better to do than stand outside in the rain watching the move of the Tiki head from the old Magic Carpet miniature golf collection of custom concrete creatures. The Tiki head was fortunate to find a new home down on 4th ave. It is large, concrete with an internal staircase to the top, and never really meant to be moved, so they had to do a lot of work to weld a support frame of steel beams around it in order to move it.

Here sits the head, already removed from its shoulders. They have added huge steel girders behind and under it, and welded smaller beams together to form a support that can be lifted and reclined. The bull is confused.

more welding to do minutes before loading on the transport

One crane lifted the head and moved it over the trailer. The second crane was then attached to the bottom of the support frame to pull the bottom up and recline the head, facing skyward, and then lower it onto the trailer.

Its always interesting to watch crane operators -- very impressive how accurate and well orchestrated this crew was, this is a custom move and yet you would never know that they hadn't moved hundreds of these heads before. Impressive.

Changing times, memories...

Its sad to see friends move away that you have been around for years.

What's next?

Never seen the sky from this angle before..

Leaving home to see new places and people

This is a video showing the first crane lift to get the head positioned over the trailer.

Kudos to the steel workers, crane operators, police escorts, businesses and everyone involved in saving this piece of Tucson history, well done! I'll try to get a picture of it in its new home when I get a chance.

[Links: ok, I know some of you are getting all the snow you ever wanted and then some... But only our mountains around Tucson have snow, so some of us still appreciate snow pictures (smile). Lynette has posted some great snow pictures from Portland, OR and Kim has posted some great snow pictures from Ohio/Michigan.]

losing our head on the eastside...

Back in April I posted some pictures of the defunct Magic Carpet Golf sculptures taken during a fundraiser to try to find new homes for some of the unique pieces. I noticed today that they are preparing to move the very large Tiki Head by building a steel frame around it. Last I heard the head was headed down to 4th avenue somewhere... Nice to see it being saved instead of 'dozed.

one last round on the magic carpet

Two weeks ago I posted some pictures taken from the fence of the defunct Magic Carpet Golf miniature golf course. The car dealership that purchased the land has allowed people to try to save some of the figures, and today there was a fund raiser for the Valley of the Moon which is going to take some of the objects. Volunteers cleaned up the place and actually put fresh paint on things. This was a great last-chance for people to come out and put a few rounds with their kids, or just take some pictures. Based on the number of people there at 11 am this morning, I'm guessing they are going to have a very successful fundraiser between then and 11 pm tonight. The parking lot was completely full. Good for them!

This snake was very faded two weeks ago, now sports fresh paint.

Unfortunately the stairs to the top of the Tiki head were locked, so I couldn't go up there to get a overall shot of all the people below.

aaah

I can tell that this place is old if this is how they used to google the web!

4/30/08 Update: Today's morning news reported that the Saturday fundraiser (above) raised $15,000 to assist in the relocation of some of the creatures before they are leveled for the future parking lot. Its nice to see what can be done when a community and business (in this case the Chapman car dealership) can come together.

The final days of Magic Carpet Golf

This is a closed miniature golf place that wasn't maintained very well the last few years that it was open, but was a Tucson landmark for over 30 years. Even closed, weedy, and with peeling paint, the campy wire and concrete creatures have a certain eye appeal. A car dealership recently purchased the land; people with fond childhood memories have found homes for many of these pieces to find new life elsewhere in town.

I think the monkey's tail used to swing back and forth to interfere with a put...

Spider obstacle?

Another swinging tail, and that ain't no bull!

Like a fish out of water...

hmmm, well the body looks like an ostrich anyway...

I wonder if the ball traveled into the snake's mouth and the exited the tail? I think some of these type of miniature golf obstacles used to have mechanisms to do things like that?

Sign of the times?

I read that the kon-tiki feature is going to a restaurant somewhere down on fourth avenue...

Not sure what else is back in there, these were the only shots I could get from outside the fenced no-trespassing area.