By Michael Freeman, Managing Editor
Anything can stir people to take action. The sudden success of a local baseball team. The tragic death of a child in an auto accident. Even the removal of a slightly damaged 500-pound Styrofoam art piece shaped in the form of a dinosaur.
Dino Bob, a sculpture built from a steel armature and blown-on Styrofoam that suffered years of hail damage, was removed from his home atop The Grace Museum’s parking garage in downtown Abilene, spurring a grassroots citizen campaign to have him on display again. Thanks to the campaign, Dino Bob, the smiling green dinosaur with a small red baseball cap and accompanying orange Volkswagen Beetle, was placed on top of a parking garage owned by the National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature (NCCIL) last June.
“When the news got around that he was going to be taken down, people really wanted him to be redone,” said Lynn Barnett, director of the Abilene Cultural Affairs Council. “I think people had gotten attached to him over the years, particularly small children. They didn’t want him leaving our city forever.”
Dino Bob, inspired by the children’s book Dinosaur Bob and His Adventures with the Family Lazardo by William Joyce, is a creation of Austin artist Bob Wade, who built the sculpture for Abilene’s 20th anniversary of the local Outdoor Sculpture exhibition in 2000. The sculpture and art pieces by Luis Jimenez, Jesus Moroles and James Surls were placed in various places around downtown Abilene. Dino Bob and the Volkswagen Beetle were placed on the roof of The Grace Museum’s parking garage on North 1st Street. But last January, after an anonymous complaint about the safety of the sculpture, the city of Abilene mandated Dino Bob be removed from the top of The Grace Museum. The sculpture, which had been on top of The Grace Museum’s roof for more than seven years, needed to be refurbished after sustaining weather damage.
Local concerned citizens came to the sculpture’s rescue. They began selling T-shirts, buttons and stickers to raise awareness and to raise money to keep Dino Bob publicly displayed. One citizen created a Facebook account for Dino Bob, and within three days of its creation, Dino Bob had more than 900 online friends. A Web site, www.SaveDinoBob.com, was even created.
Barnett said she thinks the support stemmed from Dino Bob being a children’s book character.
“He’s such a friendly dinosaur,” Barnett said. “Kids love dinosaurs. Many people told us that when they come downtown, that’s what their kids look for. They want to see Dino Bob. He has become a very beloved member of our community.”
In the book, published in 1988, Dinosaur Bob plays a young and friendly character discovered by the Lazardo family while on an African safari. The family takes Dino Bob back home with them to Pimlico Hills, where he is greeted with delight by the town’s citizens, except for the mayor’s wife Mrs. DeGlumly. After being arrested for disturbing the peace by chasing and catching cars, Dino Bob plays baseball for the Pimlico Pirates, is hailed as a hero for hitting the winning run and wins over the heart of Mrs. DeGlumly.
Dino Bob certainly won the hearts of many Abilenians. All work and funds to move Dino Bob were donated by local companies, schools and citizens. The city of Abilene only paid $7,500 to Wade for ownership of Dino Bob.
Donations came in a myriad of ways. Epic Construction and Templeton Equipment worked to remove Dino Bob and his Volkswagen from the roof of The Grace Museum and place him on top of the NCCIL parking garage. A group of 12 students from Premier High School along with art teacher Larry Millar refurbished Dino Bob, fixing his hat, giving him a new coat of green paint and repairing him from hail damage. The group spent 35 hours renovating the sculpture, according to an Abilene Reporter-News article. Chuck Statler, Abilene county commissioner, offered to house Dino Bob in a county barn during the renovation. Bowie Elementary School held a fundraiser for Dino Bob, and dozens of citizens marched up and down Abilene streets to raise awareness of the sculpture’s move. The orange Volkswagen also was refurbished and repainted by Sterling Volkswagen of Abilene. Lauren Engineering donated the welding to put the sculpture in place atop the garage.
“It was one of those things that took on a life of its own,” Barnett said. “There were all of these spontaneous support mechanisms that all contributed to his coming back downtown.”
The city of Abilene had the sculpture ready to unveil for ArtWalk’s third annual CarWalk June 12. More than 300 local fans cheered Dino Bob’s introduction to the top of the NCCIL parking garage at 5:30 p.m.
“We had caricatures; we had Dino Bob hats; we had school children singing the Dino Bob song, and we had face-painting,” Barnett said. “It was really a glorious celebration.”
Mayor Norm Archibald declared the day to be “Dino Bob Day” and said the “beloved icon represents all that is good and kind in the city of Abilene,” according to an Abilene Reporter-News article.
“This place was packed,” said Debbie Lillick, interim director of the NCCIL. “It was a big deal.”
Dino Bob’s current home, the former Boggs Daniel computer store, is located on Cedar Street. However, he was taken down again while the building was being renovated into a climate-controlled storage annex for the NCCIL. He returned to the roof last December after the renovations were complete. While Dino Bob did not receive the same greeting he did in June, officials at the NCCIL believe people still enjoy seeing him when they visit the NCCIL.
“They come here for the books or whoever the current illustrator is,” said Rodney Gooden, business manager of the NCCIL. “So it’s kind of a bonus to see him too.”
While Dino Bob most likely will need to be refurbished every few years, no plans have been made to relocate the sculpture.
“I think he will preside happily over Cedar Street and be enjoyed by children going in and out of the library,” Barnett said. “He’s in a good location. We hope he enjoys a long and happy life presiding over the NCCIL on Cedar Street.”
Dino Bob is a local treasure in Abilene as he was in Pimlico. A song, which is printed in the back of the book and set to the tune of Auld Lang Syne, sums up both town’s sentiments of Dino Bob:
“He’s Bob, the best old Bob, the biggest Bob you’ve ever seen. He’s Mesozoic and heroic and he’s really green.
Yes, large and green so serene, he’s gentle and he’s sweet, and when the music plays for him, he stamps his mighty feet.
He’s Bob, the best old Bob, the biggest Bob you’ll ever know. He’s Mesozoic and heroic, and we love him so.”
