Money Raised for Restoration of Yard Bird … Again

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Enough money has been raised to once again restore the iconic giant bird situated outside of the Yard Birds Mall.

In all, $10,000 was needed for the restoration after a previous repair effort failed.

Darris McDaniel, the owner of Yard Birds, donated $5,000 toward the effort, and the remainder of the money was recently raised through the annual Miss Yard Bird Pageant and from donations obtained through a crowd-funding account online.

Jason Mattson, Yard Birds manager, said he has been fundraising for the restoration since August.



“I’m just excited to have it back again. It feels great and it’s kind of a relief,” he said.

Mattson hopes to have the needed material purchased in the next couple of weeks, and the restoration efforts will begin sometime before mid-May.

The plan is to strip off the plywood — which didn’t hold up to the elements as promised — and resheet the bird with treated plywood. After that, a fiberglass coating will be added and the bird will be repainted.

Although the last restoration attempt was not as successful as he had hoped, Mattson said he learned from the experience and the project will be done correctly this time. In a previous article by The Chronicle, Mattson said the company responsible for casing the bird in fiberglass cut some corners and used a roof tar type of material instead. The repairs were supposed to last 20 years, but the coating began to bubble and perforate, damaging the plywood underneath.