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Pelicans in Paradise

"Press"ton Pelican in front of the Pensacola News Journal building on Romana Street

Pelicans in Paradise is a public art project organized by the Pensacola News Journal in which pelican statues of reinforced fiberglass are decorated by various artists, selected by the statues' sponsors, and placed at various outdoor locations around the downtown Pensacola area.

Pelicans in Paradise was inspired by the similar CowParade project, which Pensacola News Journal president & publisher Denise Ivey witnessed during a 2002 trip to Portland, Oregon. Each fiberglass pelican is nearly 5 feet tall and weighs about 70 pounds; each pelican sits on a 48 inch by 40 inch, 450-pound cement "perch."

A total of 41 pelicans have been commissioned for the project: the initial project included twenty-one pelicans launched between June 23-July 2, 2004, followed by a "Second Flight" between November 15-19, and five more in Spring 2005. One remains unfinished. On May 9, 2005, the pelicans began to be removed, cleaned and returned to their owners/sponsors. Many have remained in the same place.

All pelican designs have been reproduced in the form of scale replicas, which are available for purchase from the Pensacola News Journal. Other Pelicans in Paradise products include T-shirts, posters and magnets. All proceeds from sponsorship and merchandise go to benefit the News Journal's Newspapers in Education literacy program.

Contents

Gallery of Pelicans

Pelican locations

Initially located in close proximity to each other in the downtown area, the Pelican statues were returned to the original sponsors or sold to the highest bidder after the program's end in 2005. Sadly, some were vandalized or stolen and will never be relocated. The map below is imported from a Google Maps project by User:RenegadeSith.

Map incomplete. Any user who is interested in contributing to this map is strongly urged to contact the map author.

<googlemap version="0.9" lat="30.420848" lon="-87.237625" zoom="11" height="500" width="100%"> http://www.pensapedia.com/mediawiki/files/pelicans.kml </googlemap>

Original Pelican Locations (map inaccurate)

Finding the pelicans became a popular scavenger hunt during the program's run. Incomplete map below. See also: Pelican Map and PDF <googlemap lat="30.412928" lon="-87.215223" type="map" zoom="16" width="650">

30.411728, -87.21252,

 
Five Flags
101 E Romana St

30.41167, -87.212978,

 
"Press"ton
101 E Romana Street

30.411605, -87.213426,

 
Peg Leg Pete
101 E Romana Street

30.411529, -87.213829,

 
Spirit Catcher
101 E Romana Street

30.413139, -87.214172,

 
Buck
101 E Romana Street

30.412986, -87.215167,

 
Pensacola is a Paradise
Intersection of Garden and Palafox (east)

30.412887, -87.215738,

 
Blue Angels 1
Intersection of Garden and Palafox (west)

30.412614, -87.215116,

 
Patriotic Pappy
Palafox south of Garden

30.411911, -87.214987,

 
Pelican Blues
40 S Palafox Street

30.410578, -87.21473,

 
Patriot
100 block S Palafox Street

30.409116, -87.214344,

 
Pelican Brief(s)
Northwest corner of Plaza Ferdinand VII

30.408487, -87.214172,

 
The Godfeather
Southwest corner of Plaza Ferdinand VII

30.409209, -87.213786,

 
Segrado Pelicano
Northeast corner of Plaza Ferdinand VII

30.409431, -87.214837,

 
Azalican
Old County Courthouse, intersection of Government and Palafox

30.415112, -87.219021,

 
Dewey D. Pelican
Downtown Library, intersection of Gregory and Spring

30.412207, -87.215416,

 
Emerald Coast
Palafox south of Garden

30.416315, -87.216275,

 
Peli-Queen Elizabeak I
N Palafox Street median (westside)

30.416352, -87.216082,

 
El Perdido Pelicano
N Palafox Street median (eastside)

30.415649, -87.215974,

 
Perdi Pelican
N Palafox Street median (eastside)

30.41563, -87.216125,

 
Smilin' Psychedelican
N Palafox Street median (westside)

</googlemap>

External Links

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