Ok trying to figure out density for this one
"""They're rebuilding the fair icon with a stronger steel frame, a fire suppression system"""""
DALLAS (AP) — State Fair of Texas officials plan to make Big Tex stronger, less flammable and more expensive in the wake of the massive statue's spectacular, fiery finish to the 2012 fair.
Faulty wiring sparked the fire that burned Big Tex down to his metal skeleton during the fair's closing weekend last month, fair President Errol McKoy said.
They're rebuilding the fair icon with a stronger steel frame, a fire suppression system and fire-retardant duds. His mouth will still move, as will one of his hands.
It'll be costly, though, between $250,000 and $600,000. But McKoy said it's worthwhile, telling The Dallas Morning News (State Fair "He didn't die. He's going through rehab."
McKoy said a contractor could be hired early next month to reconstruct Big Tex, but he is counting on donations from sponsors and other private sources to fund the cowboy's resurrection.
The aim is to confine the changes to Big Tex's innards while keeping the same look that fairgoers have come to know and love since he first towered over the fairgrounds in 1952.
"We've heard the fairgoers loud and clear: They don't want any changes to Tex," McKoy said.
Tex's steel frame, charred by the Oct. 19 fire, will be scrapped and the new frame will be designed to withstand winds as high as 90 mph.
The attention lavished on Big Tex's big bonfire caught fair officials by surprise, McKoy said. Memorial Facebook pages began to appear, attracting eulogies and other testimonials on Big Tex's behalf.
"I don't think that we knew how much he meant to us as an organization and to the fairgoers. It was a wake-up call for us to really refocus more time and energy on Big Tex," he said.
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Information from: The Dallas Morning News, Dallas-Fort Worth News, Sports, Entertainment, Weather and Traffic - The Dallas Morning News
Read more: Big Tex faces makeover after fiery end to fair - San Antonio Express-News
"""They're rebuilding the fair icon with a stronger steel frame, a fire suppression system"""""
DALLAS (AP) — State Fair of Texas officials plan to make Big Tex stronger, less flammable and more expensive in the wake of the massive statue's spectacular, fiery finish to the 2012 fair.
Faulty wiring sparked the fire that burned Big Tex down to his metal skeleton during the fair's closing weekend last month, fair President Errol McKoy said.
They're rebuilding the fair icon with a stronger steel frame, a fire suppression system and fire-retardant duds. His mouth will still move, as will one of his hands.
It'll be costly, though, between $250,000 and $600,000. But McKoy said it's worthwhile, telling The Dallas Morning News (State Fair "He didn't die. He's going through rehab."
McKoy said a contractor could be hired early next month to reconstruct Big Tex, but he is counting on donations from sponsors and other private sources to fund the cowboy's resurrection.
The aim is to confine the changes to Big Tex's innards while keeping the same look that fairgoers have come to know and love since he first towered over the fairgrounds in 1952.
"We've heard the fairgoers loud and clear: They don't want any changes to Tex," McKoy said.
Tex's steel frame, charred by the Oct. 19 fire, will be scrapped and the new frame will be designed to withstand winds as high as 90 mph.
The attention lavished on Big Tex's big bonfire caught fair officials by surprise, McKoy said. Memorial Facebook pages began to appear, attracting eulogies and other testimonials on Big Tex's behalf.
"I don't think that we knew how much he meant to us as an organization and to the fairgoers. It was a wake-up call for us to really refocus more time and energy on Big Tex," he said.
___
Information from: The Dallas Morning News, Dallas-Fort Worth News, Sports, Entertainment, Weather and Traffic - The Dallas Morning News
Read more: Big Tex faces makeover after fiery end to fair - San Antonio Express-News