Pensacola’s Pelicans In Paradise

Pelicans In Paradise
various locations
Pensacola, Florida
submitted by: “Road Runner” (Bill)

Bill is back with another great batch of roadside wonders … or should I say “flock” of wonders 🙂 This also serves as a reminder to me to seek out the remaining cows from the 2004 Harrisburg Cow Parade in my area. Many of them have been moved in the intervening years and they are becoming harder and harder to spot.

Looking for an unusual holiday ornament? The Pensacola News Journal still has a few small reproduction ornaments & figurines available for purchase on their website. Click here to check them out!

Bill:
Pelicans in Paradise is a public art project organized by the Pensacola News Journal. Pelican statues of reinforced fiberglass were decorated by various artists, selected by the statues’ sponsors, and placed at various outdoor locations around the downtown Pensacola area.

Pelicans in Paradise was inspired by the similar Cow Parade project, which Pensacola News Journal president & publisher Denise Ivey witnessed during a 2002 trip to Portland, Oregon.

Each fiberglass pelican is nearly 5 feet tall and weighs about 70 pounds; each pelican sits on a 48 inch by 40 inch, 450-pound cement “perch.”

A total of 41 pelicans have been commissioned for the project: the initial project included twenty-one pelicans launched between June 23 and July 2, 2004 — followed by a “Second Flight” between November 15-19. Five more followed in the Spring of 2005.