Leif Erikson statue refuses to budge for the third straight day

Thursday, Day 3: That 17-foot statue of Leif Erikson at Shilshole Bay still wouldn't budge, even after some 40 man-hours of hammering and drilling.

It wouldn't budge even after crews dulled half-a-dozen tips from a jackhammer, and broke a 1 ¼-inch drill bit.

"It surprised me in its strength, and it surprised me that there was concrete," said Roger Waterhouse project manager for Artech, the company contracted to move the bronze statue to Kent to fix blemishes caused by weathering.

The statue, he said, had some 3,000 pounds of concrete poured into its hollow legs, which then set hard against the foundation. In addition, it was held down with steel rebar up to 1-inch thick, as well as ¾-inch steel bolts.

Without the concrete, the statue weighs 8,000 pounds, and when it finally is lifted, there will be straps not only along the middle of Leif, but the bottoms of his feet, to make sure the concreted legs don't break off.

"It's a monster," said Waterhouse.

Leif is to be refurbished and moved about 200 feet to a new home.

It's been a local icon for 45 years, although it had a rough time gaining acceptance from city officials.

When first proposing the statue in 1959, the local Scandinavian-American community spent the next three years trying to convince officials to find a place for it.

Erikson was a Viking many believe was the first European to reach America, 500 years before Columbus, and a source of pride to local Scandinavians.

But they were rejected by the Parks Department, which didn't want other ethnic groups to then want their own statues.

The statue was derided by some members of the Municipal Arts Commission who said Leif was inferior art.

The Teamsters even tried to stop it being trucked to Seattle from where Leif was cast in Berkeley, saying that a Teamster should be driving the truck.

Thursday at Shilshole, just as they did on Tuesday and Wednesday, about two dozen old-timers showed up for a once-again canceled noontime ceremony in which a crane would hoist up Leif.

Trygve Bjorndal, 76, who came here in 1954 from Bergen, Norway, was there playing traditional tunes with his accordion. He worked as a fisherman and as a carpenter.

He took the statue's immobility in stride.

"It's just a stubborn Norwegian . . . or, I should say, Icelander," he said, referring to Leif's origins.

Kristine Leander, president of the Leif Erikson International Foundation (www.leiferikson.org), which is raising funds for Leif's new site, wouldn't predict when the fourth try at a lifting ceremony would take place.

Maybe Friday, maybe this weekend, she said, who knows.

She said about Leif, "He just keeps surprising us."

Erik Lacitis: 206-464-2237 or elacitis@seattletimes.com