Town, Rotary Club rebuild iconic antler arch

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

By Ben Cannon

Jackson Hole, Wyo.-As the sun blazed high in a silvery cobalt sky last week, a crew of a half dozen strong worked to put the finishing touches on a newly constructed elk antler arch on the Jackson Town Square.

On the Square’s southwest corner, near the location where the now uprooted and relocated original flagship arch stood for over 50 years at Jackson’s busiest tourist intersection, Larry Pardee, director of the City of Jackson’s public works department, looked on, momentarily ribbing his subcontractors, smiling contentedly at Jackson’s newest aesthetic amenity.

“Normally we’re water and streets,” the civil worker said, “but this is almost artistic.”
In a little over three weeks, a mix of Jackson’s public works employees, subcontractors and at least one volunteer have labored to remove Jackson Hole’s original elk antler arch and put up a new one.

The new arch was built about nine feet further into Square Park, away from the busy intersection of Broadway and Cache Street where throngs of tourists often loiter close to traffic to pose for photos under the valley’s most identifiable manmade landmark.

The movement to rebuild the oldest, most visible of the Square’s four arches began largely with Rotary Club member Pete Karns about two years ago. Karns made it his mission to begin procuring antlers and raised about $100,000 in private donations for the cause.

“This idea started just from general observations of the arches over the last few years,” Karns said. “Rotary was involved in the construction of the original four arches, so I thought naturally we should be involved here too.”

The antler arches had become sun baked, patchy and brittle looking, a contrast to the robust curve and mottled earth hues of the newly erected one. But the greatest threat to elk antler arch health probably was tourist predation.

“Last night somebody got a few of our new ones,” Pardee said on Thursday. “We thought we had them locked up pretty tight.” He added that the summer tourist seasons often leave the arches a little on the mangy side and in need of some piecemeal antler patch jobs.

The antlers are mostly self-locking and construction crews had to work through trial and error to fit the pieces. The few that remained loose were secured with screws, making them a tough grab for anyone wanting a souvenir. Additionally, the new arch, fortified with rebar and steel to meet seismic building codes, is wired for power for Christmas lights.

Rotarian Rick Hollingsworth oversaw a contest to guess the number of antlers in the new arch. 

“Oh, I’ll never forget how many antlers there are: 1,948,” Hollingsworth said.

Three contest winners will be recognized at the July 4th dedication of the arch, where a pair of handsome moose paddles will be added, welcoming visitors to Jackson Hole like the pair adorning the original arch did. At the ceremony, Jackson Mayor Mark Barron will preside over the burying of a time capsule under the boardwalk there.

“Generations of Jackson kids have grown up looking at those arches and millions upon millions of tourists come to admire them,” Barron said.

Karns and the Rotary Club of Jackson Hole will continue to purchase and stockpile elk antlers and aim to take on a remaining arch every one to two years. Those projects should be much less costly to the town, which foots the bill for labor, because the remaining three are in good condition and would primarily need only a fresh coat of new antler.

Photo by DEREK DILUZIO
City of Jackson Public Works crews made quick work of the new elk antler arch last week on the southwest corner of the Town Square.

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Town, Rotary Club rebuild iconic antler arch | Planet JH News Article: General Article

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