Vulcan

Vulcan on December 21, 2004

Vulcan is the largest cast iron statue in the world and the symbol of Birmingham. The 56 foot tall statue depicts the Roman god of the fire and forge. It was created as Birmingham's entry at the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis, Missouri. Vulcan was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 6, 1976.

Creation of the Statue

Commissioned by the Commercial Club of Birmingham, Italian-born sculptor Giuseppe Moretti began designing the monumental figure in 1903, using 10-inch and 6-foot tall models to study the form. He then proceeded to sculpt a clay master in an abandoned church in Passaic, New Jersey. The master was divided into sections and transported by rail to the Birmingham Steel and Iron Company for preparation of casting molds.

Vulcan is comprised of 29 cast iron components. The heaviest is his head, which weighs 11,000 pounds. Forgemen designed and executed the connection details for the statue, which originally had no internal framework and was self-supporting. The grey iron castings were made in Birmingham entirely from locally-produced iron.

1904 Exposition

Vulcan was shipped to St. Louis in pieces in early spring 1904 with the final piece arriving on April 22, eight days before the exposition commenced. However, without proper bolt holes cast to secure one of his arms, Vulcan stood at the fair incomplete through mid-May.

During the fair, both the phrases "Vulcan, god of fire and metals, cast at Birmingham, Alabama" and "Iron is king, its home, Birmingham, Ala." were painted in gold paint on the anvil.

Vulcan dramatically demonstrated the mineral and manufacturing riches of the Birmingham District at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition's Palace of Mines and Metallurgy, and was awarded the "Grand Prize".

After the fair ended, the popularity of the statue resulted in other cities offering to purchase it and relocate it away from Birmingham. Some of these proposals were as follows:

• St. Louis wanted to purchase it and keep it in the city after the exposition
• San Francisco wanted to purchase it and set it up somewhere in San Francisco Bay as a "counterpart" to the Statue of Liberty
• Portland, Oregon reached an agreement to have Vulcan displayed atop a newly constructed pedestal for the 1905 Louis & Clark Exposition that later fell through due to lack of funding
• Another proposal called for Vulcan to be reconstructed in the middle of Chesapeake Bay

In February 1905, the statue was finally dismantled and returned to its hometown, only to be left in pieces alongside the railroad due to unpaid freight bills. Vulcan was eventually re-erected at the Alabama State Fairgrounds, but the statue's arms were installed incorrectly, and he was without his spear, which had been lost en route from St. Louis.

At the Fairgrounds

Upon the return to Birmingham, where to locate the statue became one of the major issues of the time. Prior to settling on the location at the fairgrounds the following places were mentioned as possible locations for the statue:

• At the center of the traffic circle at Five Points South
• Atop Red Mountain
• Along 20th Street North in downtown at the railroad reservation
• Within Capitol Park

After remaining disassembled along 20th Street South near Red Mountain since his return, Vulcan was reassembled at the fairgrounds in October 1906.

During this time, the statue suffered significant physical damage. One of the more infamous occurrences involved one of the arms being destroyed in shipment back from the 1904 Exposition and subsequently recast.

With nothing to hold in his hands, Vulcan soon became an advertising icon at the Fairgrounds. Vulcan held an ice cream cone, a Coca-Cola bottle, and even advertised Heinz pickles. In the late 1920s he was disassembled for inspection. During this time, children would often play around the disassembled statue. He was repainted flesh color and reassembled in the early 1930's.

In 1935 Moretti was quoted as saying "I almost wish I had never made him" in response to the way the statue was displayed and handled at the fairgrounds.

On Red Mountain

It was not until 1936 that the statue moved to its present home, thanks to the Works Progress Administration, which partially funded a new park in the city at the top of Red Mountain. A 126-foot pedestal was built of local sandstone, and Vulcan was hoisted into place. A new spear was fabricated to be held high in his right hand while his left hand held a hammer at his side. Vulcan was repainted in an aluminum-like finish.

A nine day festival commenced on May 7, 1939 to dedicate Vulcan Park. Miss Evelyn Tully was crowned the Vulcan Queen. Guests of honor included the original foundrymen who originally cast Vulcan. A crowd of 5,000 was present for the opening night of the festival.

To take full advantage of Vulcan's position overlooking Birmingham, the city's Junior Chamber of Commerce in 1946 made the statue into a symbol for road safety. His spear was replaced by a neon torch that glowed green, except during the 24 hours following a fatal traffic accident, when it glowed red. The traffic safety light was first lit at a dedication ceremony on October 23, 1946.

In 1949, Vulcan found some new neighbors, when two television stations, WAFM-TV (now WVTM) and WBRC located their studios and towers on Red Mountain.

Centennial facelift

To celebrate Birmingham's centennial, the area around the statue was given a $1 million facelift in 1971. The original tower was clad in Alabama marble with an elevator and observation deck added. A covered walkway also connected a gift shop and snack bar. Vulcan was repainted a rust red a few years later.

Unfortunately, the statue itself had, at some point, been filled up to the chest with concrete and had begun to deteriorate seriously. By 1990, an engineering study found that the statue was in danger of collapse.

1999-2004 Restoration

Vulcan was removed during October and November of 1999 in preparations for a $14 million renovation process that saw the park and pedestal restored to its original 1938 appearance. The statue sat in Vulcan Park's parking lot until the fall of 2001, when it was shipped to Robinson Iron in Alexander City to be repaired. The statue itself was thoroughly inspected and repaired, with some parts, including the lost spear point, re-cast. The new and restored pieces were coated with a thick, durable finish, topped with a light gray, dubbed "Vulcan gray" by the paint consultant who supplied the specification.

Meanwhile in 2002, the 1971 additions to the park were demolished, and scaffolding went up around Vulcan's tower. Brice Building Company serves as general contractor with crews from Masonry Arts doing the masonry work to clean and repair the original tower. Vulcan's head and right arm went on display at the Birmingham Museum of Art while the tower was prepared.

Vulcan was re-erected on a steel armature atop his tower during June 2003, restored to its original appearance as intended by Moretti, and slightly reoriented to the east. WVTM and WBRC both provided live webcams of the reinstallation process.

Shortly after the statue was reinstalled, the scaffolding came down, and a new observation deck providing panoramic views of downtown Birmingham, Red Mountain, and Homewood was installed. The original museum space surrounding the base was rebuilt, though it now serves as a storage area. A new elevator was installed, oriented so it would not be easily seen from downtown Birmingham. The original waterfalls were not rebuilt, though the stone walkways leading from the parking lot directly to Vulcan's tower were restored.

In 2006 the restoration was given an Honor Award by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Vulcan Park

Vulcan Park is the 10-acre urban green space surrounding the statue. A new visitor's center, called the Vulcan Center, features interactive exhibits and displays that give insight into the region's history and the industrial growth of the Birmingham District. It also tells Vulcan's story and has a full-size replica of Vulcan's foot, that was cast in fiberglass in 1991, giving visitors a better sense of the statue's size.

Trivia

• In 1926, The Birmingham Post ran a column describing a mythical love affair between Vulcan and the statue of Electra atop the 1925 Alabama Power Building.
• The statue's naked buttocks are a well-known source of humor, inspiring a novelty song, "Moon Over Homewood."
• Birmingham's World Football League team, the Birmingham Vulcans were named for the statue.
• President George W. Bush's foreign policy advisory team, led by Condoleezza Rice was nicknamed "The Vulcans".
• The student-run historical journal at UAB is the Vulcan Historical Review.

References

• "Vulcan statue." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 20 Mar 2006, 00:29 UTC. 20 Mar 2006, 00:31 [1].
• Morris, Philip A. (1995) Vulcan and His Times. Birmingham: Birmingham Historical Society.
• Howell, J. Scott (2004) "Bringing Back the Magic: Restoring Giuseppi Moretti's Vulcan in Birmingham, Alabama." APT Bulletin: The Journal of Preservation Technology. Volume XXXV, No. 2-3. ISSN 00449466
• Library of Congress page about the Vulcan, accessed November 7, 2006.

External links

• Vulcan Park Foundation
• Vulcan photo archives at the Birmingham Public Library
• Vulcan restoration project site at Robinson Iron
• Gallery of Vulcan photos at Flickr.com