25-Ton Easter Island Head
Tucson, Arizona
Proclaiming itself to be the largest Easter Island head in the world, this 42-foot-tall behemoth weighs an estimated 25 tons. It was built in 1970 by Michael and Andy Kautza for Magic Carpet Mini-Golf, based on the Goofy Golf designs of owner Lee Koplin. The head, like the Statue of Liberty, had an interior spiral staircase, and visitors could climb to the top to stand on its scalp for aerial views. At the time it was the tallest structure in southeast Tucson.
Magic Carpet Golf eventually went out of business, and the head was sawed off of its base on Christmas Eve 2008 and hauled seven miles west to a nightclub named The Hut. By coincidence Michael Kautza, who had moved out of state, was in town visiting his daughter when he saw his Easter Island head in transit. He offered to build a base for the head, which was unveiled with much fanfare on August 29, 2009.
Visitors can no longer climb to the top, as the head now sporadically erupts in flames after dark.