Leif Erikson statue refuses to budge
SEATTLE —- Leif Erikson stood his ground in Seattle's Shilshole Bay Marina, just as he had since 1962 — despite his appointment with makeover artists in Kent, 15 miles to the south, and the efforts of a crew working full time to dislodge the 17-foot bronze Viking.
Workers tried concrete drills and jackhammers, and even tried to lever him out with a crane wielding 20,000 pounds of force. About 20 people attended his departure ceremony Tuesday — but Leif remained in place.
"He's just not going anywhere," said Kristine Leander, president of the Seattle-based Leif Erikson International Foundation, three days into the effort.
"Maybe they should try to lure him down with some lutefisk."
Leif Erikson was the Viking explorer whom many credit with being the first European to land in North America, in Newfoundland, possibly as early as 985.
Leander's nonprofit foundation, which formed in 1994 and presented duplicates of the Seattle statue to Norway in 1997 and Greenland in 2000, is working with the Port of Seattle and the local Scandinavian community in a marina renovation to memorialize Scandinavian immigrants. The statue is the centerpiece of the new memorial.
Read entire article at Los Angeles Times
Workers tried concrete drills and jackhammers, and even tried to lever him out with a crane wielding 20,000 pounds of force. About 20 people attended his departure ceremony Tuesday — but Leif remained in place.
"He's just not going anywhere," said Kristine Leander, president of the Seattle-based Leif Erikson International Foundation, three days into the effort.
"Maybe they should try to lure him down with some lutefisk."
Leif Erikson was the Viking explorer whom many credit with being the first European to land in North America, in Newfoundland, possibly as early as 985.
Leander's nonprofit foundation, which formed in 1994 and presented duplicates of the Seattle statue to Norway in 1997 and Greenland in 2000, is working with the Port of Seattle and the local Scandinavian community in a marina renovation to memorialize Scandinavian immigrants. The statue is the centerpiece of the new memorial.
Related Links
Leif Erikson statue project (slide show, Seattle Post-Intelligencer)