Chicken Boy is a statue located on North Figueroa Street in the Highland Park district of Los Angeles. The 22-foot tall fiberglass statue was recognized by Governor

Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, film producer, businessman, retired professional bodybuilder and politician who served as the 38th governor of California between 2003 and 2011. ''Time'' ...

with the ''Governor's Historic Preservation Award'' in 2010.

History

The statue was originally built in the 1960s for the Chicken Boy Fried Chicken Restaurant, which was located in

Downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) contains the central business district of Los Angeles. In addition, it contains a diverse residential area of some 85,000 people, and covers . A 2013 study found that the district is home to over 500,000 jobs. It is ...

on Broadway between 4th and 5th streets, near the

Grand Central Market Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor * Grand Mixer DXT, American turntablist * Grand Puba (born 1966), American rapper Places * Grand, Oklahoma * Grand, Vosges, village and commun ...

. At that time,

International Fiberglass International Fiberglass was a fiberglass molding company founded in Venice, California in about 1963, best known for their large molded fiberglass roadside advertising sculptures commonly called "Muffler Men". The company was formed when St ...

Company of

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

was manufacturing roadside Paul Bunyan and

Muffler Man Muffler men (or muffler man) are large moulded fiberglass sculptures that are placed as advertising icons, roadside attractions, or for decorative purposes, predominantly in the United States. Standing approximately tall, the first figure was a ...

statues for use as outdoor advertising. The Chicken Boy restaurant bought one and hired an artist to customize it. A chicken head was fabricated to replace the man's head. The arms were re-worked to face forward and hold a bucket, rather than an axe. The statue remained in place until 1984 when the restaurant owner died. The statue was eventually given to artist Amy Inouye. She stored it until 2007, when she moved the Chicken Boy statue to its current location at 5558 North Figueroa Street.Rodriguez, Gregory: "Op-Ed", ''Los Angeles Times'', "Chicken Boy Lives," March 14, 2011 Her design firm, Future Studio, had relocated to a commercial space that had a reinforced roof strong enough to support the statue. The Chicken Boy statue was preserved as a result of community effort and donated funds.

Awards

*''Governor's Historic Preservation Award'', Sacramento, California, 2010. *''Community Beautification Grant,'' City of Los Angeles, 2005-2006. *California Preservation Foundation, ''Three Minute Success Story, 2009. *Highland Park Heritage Trust ''Preservation Award'', 2009-2010. *''Commendation'', City of Los Angeles, 2009. *''Commendation'', California State Assembly, Sacramento, California, 2010.

References

External links

* - www.chickenboy.com * {{coord, 34.10848, -118.1942, type:landmark_globe:earth_region:US-CA, display=title Tourist attractions along U.S. Route 66 Landmarks in California 1960s establishments in California

History

Awards

References

Further reading

External links