How do you move a 100 year old statue of Teddy Roosevelt? Very carefully…

It was 1924 when Minot’s Teddy Roosevelt statue was cast in Brooklyn, New York. Seemingly ordered by Dr. Henry Waldo DDE as a gift to the Roosevelt family, the plaque at the base of the structure that held the Teddy Roosevelt statue in the commons area of Roosevelt Park says Waldo was a life-long friend of Teddy Roosevelt. The statue was dedicated to the children of North Dakota on September 11th, 1924.

Getting up close you can see the many seams that needed to be soldered together to complete the statue. The construction of the statue was well documented with handwritten notes and photos. Teddy stands 9 foot tall on top of his horse and is 12 foot long from the ear tips to the tail of his proud mount.

There is a not to subtle warning included in the instructions for moving this iconic statue; “Teddy is assembled the old fashioned way and cannot be moved or maintained the same way we would move or maintain our contemporary sculptures- it will come apart!!! How can that be? Teddy was manufactured in New York, shipped via the Panama Canal to Portland, Oregon, and eventually would travel cross country 1,252 miles to Minot, North Dakota. How can moving it about 200 yards to the south be a big deal?

“It’s a big deal” according to Terry Mattson of Mattson Construction “if anything happens to this statue, I’ll probably have to leave town.” That would explain why just a few of us were able to watch as forklift operator Dillon Mattson carefully picked Teddy up. “My hands were shaking” says Dillon “I was really nervous.” Free from the base it occupied for so many years, Teddy headed south with a few curious onlookers taking photos and collectively holding their breathes until Teddy safely reached the new destination in the parking lot of Roosevelt Park Zoo.

No one was in a hurry to move the Roosevelt statue, one of only 2 left in the United States, but flood control work dictated by the 2011 flood, would relocate much of Roosevelt Park Zoo. There was no other answer, Teddy just had to be moved. There are stories about the statue, some I can personally authenticate. The sword was once stolen and had to be replaced. During some of the reconstruction and maintenance, at least one of the joints was over heated, thus compromising the integrity of the statue. The statue cannot be lifted from the top. It must be moved by lifting and securing the statue from the bottom.

From what we can tell Teddy will now be in his 3rd location. Once near the parrot house in the zoo, he was moved to the commons area in the park. Now he will greet the thousands of visitors who are headed to Roosevelt Park Zoo. Is it the last location for Minot’s Teddy Roosevelt statue? Who knows. Weather, commercial growth, historic value…they all seem to be factors that would dictate moving Teddy again. The crew from Mattson Construction handled the project well.

If he could speak, Teddy would probably tell everyone about the move with one word; “Bully!