Big John is gone. But don’t worry, Cape Coral: The smiling, grocery-toting statue will be back soon in South Cape.
His owner, Elmer Tabor, says he’s glad to finally send off Big John for some much needed repairs. The 28-foot-tall statue — a downtown Cape Coral landmark — was badly damaged by Hurricane Ian in 2022.
Tabor oversaw a work crew Sunday, Nov. 10, that dismantled the 6,000-pound statue from his concrete pedestal in Big John’s Plaza. They slowly loaded his upper torso and then his legs onto a trailer using a 37-foot crane.
“I feel like I got him off of my shoulders,” Tabor said and laughed. “Literally.”
The statue’s fiberglass shell creaked loudly as the crane slowly lifted Big John’s heavy upper torso off its metal support pole. Yellow straps were looped under the statue’s armpits.
Tabor watched and offered advise throughout the process. “I don’t want to put a lot of stress on the neck,” he told the crew from Honc Industries as they looped the straps around Big John’s torso.