In 2005, I received a call for a new, exciting project to be built in the Mall of America in Minnesota. It was a mini-golf course on the third floor of the mall. The owners flew me down to the mall to look at the site, which overlooked the large theme park below. As I recall, I had two weeks to dream up and draw up the plans before I travelled back to present them to the mall management. The concept was loosely based on Minnesota’s logging history with lots of fun. The management loved the ideas and gave the project the green light. We were to build all the features and signs, while the ‘mountain’ and infrastructure would be constructed by a Minnesota company specializing in rock work. Over the next few months, we kept busy in our shop creating giant features. Each time a truckload was ready, we loaded a semi, and I travelled down to oversee the installation and ensure the on-site construction lived up to the concepts. It was a challenging, exciting and fun project without a doubt, and it was a success that is still there twenty years later.
Giddy up!
Another of the many features for the Moose Mountain Adventure Golf project was a protesting horse attempting to pull a sled loaded with giant logs. It was loosely based on historical photographs I found in my research of Minnesota’s colourful logging history. As we built the feature Phoebe (two years old at the time) insisted on riding the horse. She test drove many of our projects just as the younger grandchildren continue to do these days. She declared it perfectly fine. The horse sported antique pulling collar and rig, albeit from a miniature horse to perfectly fit the scaled down creature we sculpted.
Flying high
Back about 2006 I received a call from the managment of the Mall of America in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Later that same week I flew down to Minnesota to look at a space in which they wished to install a mini golf. Less than two weeks after that I flew back to present a completed design package, which they approved on the spot. On my return home we got busy in our studio creating a variety of features and signs for the golf. We built enough pieces to fill two fifty-two foot semis. A local company did the onsite work including the two story mountain, under my supervision. Over the next two and a half months I made a total of six trips to Minneapolis. One of the features we built was a large, twin engine float plane which was to be suspended from the steel roof girders. It has a wingspan of twenty-four feet and ‘tows’ a fifty foot banner with the name MOOSE MOUNTAIN ADVENTURE GOLF written on it. The engineers insisted the plane had to weigh in at less than 2,100 lbs. It was fabricated using a welded steel frame, spruce plywood, styrofoam, Precision Board high density urethane, sculpting epoxy and various other materials. The main wings and vertical tail section detached for shipping. We weighed the plane when we were finished and it weighed 2,050 lbs! It was suspended from the steel trusses by five quarter inch steel cables. The local fire chief and building inspector insisted we fireproof the plane inside and out (which we did with special paint). They also insisted we bring a sprinkler pipe down from the ceiling and then through the wings of the plane with two sprinkler heads poking through under the wings. The plane number on the wings and tail is a tribute to my dad with his initials and birthdate (month/year).
We brought the features into the mall at night when it was closed. The contractor had assembled a large crane inside the mall and we lifted the pieces up to the third floor where the golf was located. The most amazing thing about the entire project is that it was completed from concept design to finish in only three months. It is still operating and is enjoyed by visitors to the Mall of America.
