Zoo’s bronze tiger statue gets ‘makeover’ 

–After 25 years of being a beloved feature near the front of the Charles Paddock Zoo, the well-known bronze tiger statue left its post in order to get a facelift and makeover. Last November, crews hoisted the 1,700-pound statue out of its location in the flamingo enclosure with a large crane.

The tiger will soon make its grand return to the zoo, newly refreshed and refurbished. It will be just as interesting and exciting to see it returned to the zoo as it was to see it leave in November for its makeover.

Through the years, the tiger statue has experienced a variety of weather conditions that have dulled its finish, which has made periodic cleaning of the bronze material a challenge. The tiger’s creator, Susan Beatie, has been fundraising on the tiger’s behalf to be able to give it a thorough cleaning and return the sculpture to its original luster.

Having the tiger removed from the flamingo pond area at the zoo and then returned to its original location required a great deal of preparation and coordination between Zoo Director Alan Baker, and Genesis Bronze, which is the foundry in charge of removing the statue and cleaning the tiger’s bronze material. The flamingos, which are located in the pond area where the tiger statue makes its home, needed to be protected with a temporary fencing enclosure so that the tiger’s removal and replacement process would not disturb their environment.

Once the tiger made its way to the foundry, the cleaning process began with torches to melt away the wax. It was then sent through an industrial strength sandblasting process. The stripes were painted black with an iron chemical and the statue was then varnished, detailed and made ready to return home again!

The total cost to remove, clean and return the tiger comes to $6,000. The tiger makeover is still in need of donations, which can be dropped off at the zoo or mailed to Charles Paddock Zoo, 9305 Pismo Ave., Atascadero, CA 93422. Be sure to mark your donation, “Tiger Makeover,” to get your tax deduction.

The Charles Paddock Zoo will be hosting a “Welcome Back” Party for the Tiger that will take place in early March. More information to come on this event. For any questions, please contact Terrie Banish at 470-3490 or email [email protected].

About the author: News Staff

News staff of the A-Town Daily News wrote and edited this article from local contributors and press releases. Scott Brennan is the publisher of this newspaper and founder of Access Publishing. Connect with him on Google+, Twitter, LinkedIn, or follow his blog. He can be reached at [email protected].