A new bridge is being constructed on South Bay Boulevard, and the work means the iconic bear statue nearby needs a new home.
The new bridge is going up alongside the current bridge over Los Osos Creek, “And that alignment conflicts with where the bear was located,” said Andew Borrelli, resident engineer for the project.
The bear statue has been located next to the bridge for decades and is often decorated for the holidays.
KSBY Community Reporter Valentina Saldana reached out to Celebrate Los Osos President Pandora Nash-Karner to learn more about the bear’s history. She said it was placed there in the 1990s by the Los Osos Community Organization and was created by then-resident and artist Paula Zima.
In 2008, Celebrate Los Osos worked on a restoration project for the statue and has been maintaining it since.
But as of Monday, the statue has a new home.
“It’s my understanding they even hired an engineer to make sure that it would be able to support the way they wanted to pick it with the crane, and as you can see today, it was moved successfully without any damage to the bear,” Borrelli said.
The bear weighs about 26,000 pounds and now sits just down the road at the corner of South Bay Boulevard and Turri Road.
The move allows construction on the approximately $30 million project to pick up.
“There’s a lot of work that needs to be done and we’re just at the point where real construction is really going to start happening," said Aaron Hope, project manager. "The abutments are going to be constructed for the new bridge shortly.”
Hope said keeping the bear in the area was always part of the plan, but its latest move won’t be the last.
“These pieces of art that are valuable to the community and county were preserved and kept safe, and so today it all came together; it’s moved to a safe location right here, and when the bridge is complete, we will move it just to the west side of the new bridge,” Hope said.
County officials say the new structure is needed after learning the 30-year-old bridge could collapse during a strong earthquake.
The bridge is expected to be completed in the fall of next year.
