It's been at least seven or eight years since we built the award winning polar bear sign for Chill-Air, an air condioning company. We pressure washed and cleaned him up three or four years ago, then, a couple of years ago we helped move him about six blocks down the street when the company bought a new building. The address carved into the front of the giant ice cube was then no longer valid and I promised the owner we would fix that up when we got some time. But the last two years have been hectic, with a couple of very large projects on the go. Each time I saw the owner he smiled and said to call him when we got some spare time.

A month ago our schedule finally started to slow down and we started the project. Chill-Air's logo letter style had changed in the last two years and so we decided to use the opportunity to refurbish the whole lower half of the sculpture/sign. The iceberg had also been raised on a steel frame somewhere down the line and we wanted to extend the sculpture right to the ground once more. New lettering was cut from heavy plate steel, and sent out to the powder coaters to get some color. We then welded up a new steel framework and wired on the lath for the concrete skin. Today was concrete day at last so the whole crew had an outing in the sun. The day was a little cloudy and not nearly as hot as it had been - perfect for the task at hand.

We'll let the concrete cure for a week or so before we go back and paint up the giant block of ice. Then the landmark bear will be good for a few more years of display before we get to spend some time with him again.

-grampa dan