Minnesota truck driver recounts Loon-y ride from LA to St. Paul carrying portion of giant bird statue
As the owner-operator of his own oversized flatbed trucking company, Jay Rabalais has handled some massive, oddly-shaped, difficult loads. But few requests could quite measure up to transporting one-twelfth of a giant loon statue from Los Angeles to St. Paul's Midway neighborhood with a Go Pro video camera attached to the back of his truck.
"There's not too many structures like that," said Rabalais on Wednesday, chuckling about his cross-country adventure, during which he was commissioned to film the 12-truck caravan of fellow loon transporters carrying aspects of the giant metal bird.
Rabalais said the dozen trucks left Los Angeles on Sept. 6, a Friday, loaded with pieces of the metal statue, which is currently being installed in the southeast corner of the intersection of Snelling and University avenues, near the Allianz Field soccer stadium. Once fully assembled, the bird, the mascot of the Minnesota United professional soccer team, will measure some 35 feet in height, with a wingspan 88 feet across.
It was sculpted by the LA-based Scottish artist Andy Scott, known for creating oversized steel and bronze horses, such as the 98-feet high twin "Kelpies" horse heads in Scotland's Helix parkland.
"It's made out of this metal that's extremely shiny, all tiny little plates woven together," said Rabalais, in a phone call from his farm home near Kenyon, Minn. "It's shinier than chrome or aluminum. It was wrapped in a white plastic."
"I can't wait to see it when it's put up," added Rabalais, whose father-in-law used to live on University Avenue in St. Paul. "It's going to be cool, man. It's going to be a very beautiful structure when it's put together, from what I've seen. I'm looking forward to seeing it."
Rabalais arrived home on Monday and deposited his piece of the bird on Wednesday morning, braving traffic back-ups on U.S. 52 with his corner of the loon on his flatbed, which measures 53 feet. Most flatbeds, he said proudly, are just 48 feet, making him the right man for the job.
He said he's familiar with the Midway's promise and challenges , including a visible uptick in unsheltered homelessness centered around a shuttered CVS store.
"I had someone walk in front of my truck before I turned into Allianz Field," he said. Still, St. Paul isn't the only city where he's seen severe housing insecurity in his travels. Los Angeles, he said, was worse: "LA is bad."
The loon will anchor a new sculpture park in United Village, the future development around Allianz Field. A McDonald's restaurant on University Avenue to the immediate east will close Dec. 8 and face demolition shortly afterward , making room for a future hotel, two new restaurant pavilions , parking and an office building.
The loon was commissioned by Dr. Bill McGuire and the McGuire Family Foundation to form the centerpiece of the sculpture park, designed by Populous. A price tag was not made public Friday. An all-abilities playground backed by the foundation opened to the immediate east of Allianz Field this summer.
