A Statue for Ivan
Plans are being made to honor Ivan the Gorilla with a life-sized statue at the Point Defiance Zoo.
According to a story from King5, Metro Parks has given Ron Irwin, Ivan’s former owner, the go-ahead to erect a statue in front of the entrance to the zoo in honor of Tacoma’s most famous primate.
Metro Parks okayed the placement of the statue, but it will have to be paid for by private dollars. Irwin has started a fund to pay for the statue and an “interactive learning area” that would tell “the true story of Ivan.” The fundraising goal is $200,000. Metro Parks has given Irwin five years to reach that goal.
Ivan lived much of his life in Tacoma, before Ivan passed away at age 50 earlier this year. After 30 years at the B&I in Tacoma, Ivan spent his remaining years in Atlanta, where, as we saw earlier this year, he appeared to enjoy his retirement.
Is this a fitting tribute to Tacoma’s most famous gorilla?
Filed under: Point Defiance Zoo, Parks, Local Celebrities
16 comments
M Mofo from the Hood December 3, 2012
A life-sized statue of Ivan the gorilla outside the gate of Pt. Defiance Zoo? What’s the causal connection? I guess the bureaucrats at Metro Parks and Ivan are evolutionary links that offer much joy—keeping in mind the necessity of relating to them on their level.
F fred davie December 3, 2012
Ivan is no more associated with the Pt. Defiance Zoo then Free Willy or Babe the Pig, but if people want a statue of him I don’t see any problem. Since they are planning to tear down the Rocky Shoes exhibit that the taxpayers just finished paying off, maybe they could put Ivan over there.
J John December 3, 2012
Thank god that Mr Irwin has given the go-ahead for the project. His love for Ivan has been evident from the beginning, from the 30 years that he and his family kept him in that horrible glass and concrete cage, to his refusal to let an autopsy be performed because Ivan “has already been through enough”, while at the same time admitting that a male ape of his his age was of great scientific interest. Yep, it’s obvious that the only concern was for Ivan.
M Mofo from the Hood December 3, 2012
Everyone laughed when I suggested a life-size replica of the B & I sign at the entrance to Pt. Defiance Park.
S Stu December 3, 2012
The zoo should stop monkeying around with dated sideshows and stick to its Pacific rim theme.
No one under 20 will get it, and anyone over 20 who has a fondness for remembering the poor gorilla in his spartan, lifeless B&I cage has no heart.
A Albert December 3, 2012
We keep building stuff like this in this town and it will be renamed City of Reconciliation instead of City of Destiny. Leave the poor ape alone and use your shame and regret to rethink who you are as a person and how to prevent it in the future. Maybe you can donate that money to help improve our parks. Who thinks of these things, “hey let’s put a statue to remind us how inconsiderate we were to that wonderful living creature.” Love you Tacoma, everyday you make me proud.
R RR Anderson December 3, 2012
Stu, it’s a soviet style attempt to rewrite history. Future people will think Ivan and the Zoo were friends which is a lie.
M Mofo from the Hood December 4, 2012
I wonder how the statue location was decided. Maybe it’s for the best, considering the suspicious deep forest genre cleansing and levelling of Never Never Land.
Z Ziggy December 4, 2012
I’d like to see a golden chicken coop installed in front of Cheney Stadium, in honor of the B&I chicken that was trained to run the bases in order to get a treat.
To paraphrase Pat Cashman: when someone in Bellevue goes to the mall, there’s a guy playing a grand piano. When someone in Tacoma goes to the mall, there’s a gorilla.
RIP, Ivan.
F fred davie December 4, 2012
The Ivan statue would certainly help with efforts to turn PDZ into a disneyland type theme park. I think we agree that is the ultimate goal.
M Mofo from the Hood December 4, 2012
During the swinging ’60’s, Ivan’s biggest celebrity rival was a resident at Pt. Defiance Zoo: Cindy the elephant.
F fred davie December 4, 2012
When you are trying to turn your zoo into a theme park it helps if every animal is personified with a human name. Hence: Cindy the elephant, dub dub the seal, ET the walrus, etc.
Soon zoological inquiries from children will be replaced by other inquiries:
“hey, which way is it to spray park and the carousel?”
J John December 4, 2012
I missed the news releases that suggest that Point Defiance wants to become a theme park. Was this in the TNT, or in the real news somewhere?
F fred davie December 4, 2012
My personal observation, John.
I’ve been visiting the zoo for 35 years. In that time the emphasis has been transformed from animals to entertainment. Look at how much is invested to make every exhibit a whiz-bang experience. Maybe they could just film these animals and show them in a surround sound 3-D theater on the premises. They could charge EXTRA for that. That way people wouldn’t have to bother with all the smells and insects and such.
M Mofo from the Hood December 5, 2012
If I were designing the Pt. Defiance exhibit, I would make a life-size scale model of Ivan and his cage representing the first year that he went on display. I personally remember viewing the real and somewhat small B&I store exhibit in those days.
During that time, circa 1967, Pt. Defiance Zoo had many animals in relatively small stand-alone concrete cages: Lions, tigers, assorted bears including polar bears, various monkeys. Cindy the elephant had arrived and that was made out to be a really big deal. Most notable, the whole zoo area was an open layout with long views, green lawn and asphalt paths that promoted walking, and it was free.
But overall, even though the zoo cages and Ivan’s cage were small by today’s standards, they did offer a close-up view of live exotic animals which many Tacoman’s might have never experienced any other way in a lifetime.
After the old zoo was subverted and replaced by a new zoo with placid Pacific Rim animals fenced in beyond an admission gate, I have only visited the new site once.
If a life-size scale model of Ivan the gorilla and his B&I store cage were constructed outside (or inside) the current zoo gate, it would fittingly portray the confusion of the current age. I would gladly design the mockery.
F fred davie December 5, 2012
This comment doesn’t have anything to do with the Ivan statue but is zoo related. It most properly falls under the heading “Those who won’t learn from history are destined to repeat it.”
Remember MOFO, the huge capital project that the taxpayers underwrote called “Rocky Shores?” Zoo administrators said it was critical that the zoo have an enormous pool for whales with outdoor seating so people could watch trainers make the whales do tricks. Sort of like a mini-sea world.
I challenge anybody reading this post to call PDZ and ask them what time the next whale show is going to occur. Don’t bother, it’s a trick question. There are no whales. In fact PDZ administrators now admit Rocky Shores was poorly planned and the whole investment is going to be torn down.
The voters in Tacoma are such suckers. The Rocky Shoes fiasco was like the story from “The Music Man” except without the happy ending.