World's Largest Strawberry returns home after weeks of restoration
On Feb. 25, crews took down the iconic strawberry outside Strawberry Point’s city hall, as part of a restoration project to repair and repaint the structure. (Photos courtesy of Deno J. Andrews)
The Strawberry Point strawberry showed its age and noticeable damage while sitting in the K&W Coatings shop in Elkader.
On April 15, crews reinstall the World’s Largest Strawberry outside Strawberry Point City Hall.
The World’s Largest Strawberry returned home, looking refreshed and colorful after several weeks of repair.
By Willis Patenaude | Times-Register
The skyline over Strawberry Point looked a little different the last few months, since the acclaimed World’s Largest Strawberry was taken from its perch Feb. 25 and hauled away on a flatbed truck for repairs and a new coat of paint.
The dramatic exit took half a day to accomplish, and when explained by Strawberry Point City Administrator Deno Andrews, it becomes an even more impressive feat. From the start of the project, Andrews said, “it was determined the strawberry was unable to hold its own weight if placed on its side, so a cradle was made that would hold up the strawberry, sideways, by the inner steel tube.”
Once it was detached from the base, using a crane provided by local business Swales Precast, the strawberry was lifted off the pole. A second crane was attached to the bottom of the pole and, together, the two cranes manipulated the strawberry sideways and onto the custom cradle/trailer. Once secured, it was taken to K&W Coatings in Elkader with a police escort. The company was chosen for work it had previously done on the city’s water tower, as well as what Andrews said was the “excellent price they quoted” for the repairs and repainting.
Repair costs were estimated between $8,000 and $10,000. It was a budgeted expense, voted on and approved last year, and based on social media reaction and comments from Andrews, the community was “very supportive” of the project.
Why wouldn’t they be? The iconic strawberry, which stands at 15 feet tall and weighs roughly 1,400 pounds, aside from a brief period in 1968 when high winds brought it down, has stood in front of city hall since it was first installed on June 20, 1967, as “an homage to the town’s name and its agricultural roots,” Andrews said.
At least that’s one of many stories and lore that surrounds the strawberry. Even Andrews admitted to being unable to locate a “definitive history” of the famous sculpture. What is known is that the project was originally developed by the Strawberry Point Jaycees, who wanted to attract attention and visitors to town. The initial cost was an estimated $6,500. The strawberry was manufactured in California and eventually shipped in four pieces to Dubuque, where it was “cemented together” and put on a flatbed truck for the trip to Strawberry Point, where it’s become a tourist attraction and selfie hotspot.
“The giant strawberry has become an iconic symbol of Strawberry Point and is a popular photo opportunity for visitors,” Andrews said. “Thousands of people stop and take selfies with the strawberry and share them on social media. We regularly see people in our local businesses that drive through the city to see the strawberry.”
However, the strawberry, which hasn’t had much in the way of maintenance outside a paint job in the late 1990s, was starting to look its age. As Andrews put it, “year after year, the strawberry just looked a little worse than the last year.”
While discussions about repairing the strawberry took place previous years, according to Andrews, this year, “everyone just seemed to agree it was time.”
The strawberry needed a makeover, or at least to have some cracks and damage fixed, and get a new coat of paint.
When it arrived at K&W Coatings, the strawberry underwent the necessary treatment. It was sanded, had holes filled with fiberglass and, of course, was repainted that famous, eye-capturing red. The process took about three weeks.
In its absence, the city of Strawberry Point had a little fun on social media with memes, videos, a missing strawberry photo and even a fake police report with an arrest. The “missing” strawberry jokes included the strawberry being spotted at a hot air balloon festival, swimming at a resort in Greece and even being smuggled and hidden in a canal in Venice, Italy.
Some posts were so convincing people actually believed the strawberry was stolen or missing, with one comment on the missing photo reading, “I was thinkin,’ how’d somebody climb up there and make off with the whole dang strawberry and nobody saw a thing?!” Once you read the small print on the bottom, though, the joke was realized and you learned the strawberry was “away for ripening.”
As the ripening took place, the city announced a few fundraising efforts, including a free “Guess the Number of Seeds” Raffle and a Sponsor a Seed Fundraiser. The former effort came with a $50 gift certificate to Nading’s, while the latter is an opportunity to help the city “restore and preserve” the strawberry and “leave your mark on the berry that leaves a mark on so many.” Sponsors will be recognized on the fundraising page and on a recognition wall inside city hall. Visit cityofstrawberrypoint.org/strawberry for more details.
The morning of April 15, the search for the “missing strawberry” was finally called off, and the iconic structure that has become such an indelible part of the town’s identity was returned to its rightful post outside city hall.
There was great social media fanfare, with one commenter posting, “Oh and our beloved strawberry is looking so much nicer. Looking refreshed and refreshing.”
Another recalled childhood memories: “As a little girl in the 70s, there was NOTHING more exciting than taking the road trip from MPLS to Strawberry Point to go visit my Grandpa and see that Strawberry lit up! Really, no one has a clue how neat that is for a kiddo.”
Andrews said, “The strawberry is very important to the city and our residents/visitors. It is part of our identity. It has been a mainstay in our city for a couple generations.”
