For 55 years, Big John has stood watch over Cape Coral. The brawny, grinning, 28-foot-tall giant looms over Big John’s Plaza in the South Cape.
But Big John hasn’t been himself for the last two years.
Not since Hurricane Ian.
The storm’s Category 4 winds badly damaged the popular statue , twisting his steel-and-fiberglass body and causing his U.S. flag-covered torso to slip down over his blue-jeaned legs. A steel support pole broke through the top of Big John’s head.
On top of that, recent hurricanes Helene and Milton came along and damaged Big John even more. That includes minor cracks in his fiberglass chest.
Big John needs a lot of work, says owner Elmer Tabor. And now — after talking about it for more than a year — he’s finally ready to give Big John the TLC he needs.
Tabor and Clint Strand of Cape company Brand 1 Ink have three crane companies on standby, they say, and they’re shooting for early November to remove the 6,000-pound statue and transport it to Strand’s shop in Cape Coral.