Birmingham, Alabama -
Vulcan the Iron Man

Birmingham, Alabama, has had a giant statue of Vulcan for over a hundred years. Perched atop Red Mountain, he overlooks a city that was famous for steelmaking at the time that he was created.... [03/08/2008] Complete News Story

The Vulcan is back standing tall in Birmingham, but not without controversy! I have spent the past few days working in the Birmingham area and I can say that most of the people I talked with are not happy about the Vulcan no longer holding a glowing torch (or glowing anything for that matter). When I asked why the spear no longer glows I received an unusual response: the light costs too much to replace. I suppose it is quite costly to replace but that doesn't seem to be an excuse to not replace the torch. Couldn't the lights have been replaced by zillions of LED lights that would have lasted much longer? Maybe, maybe not. But at least The Vulcan was not scrapped. And, even better, the Giant Dog on a Crane off hwy 208 has something interest to look at. [Greg Brown, 02/14/2004]

[RA: June 2005 - Barbara Kelley, Director of Education of the Vulcan Park Foundation, provided this explanation about the torch and the spear: "After the renovation of Vulcan, it was decided to eliminate the light that shown red or green. This was a decision that had nothing to do with money. We wanted to return Vulcan to the way that the artist, Giuseppe Moretti, intended when he sculpted Vulcan for the World's Fair in 1904. Vulcan held a spear (the light was added in 1946) at the World's Fair. The original spear was lost when Vulcan returned to Birmingham after the World's Fair so a new spear was made by Robinson Iron, the folks who renovated Vulcan."]

The Vulcan statue has returned to its pedestal on Red Mountain. His massive cast iron buttocks was put in place mid-June. However, it will no longer be a 'Moon Over Homewood' (title of a 1981 song). Vulcan has been whirled around to more of his original orientation, and faces a different direction. Also, the red and green indicator in his hand changed -- it will no longer look like a lime or cherry popsicle. It's been removed, to show the original spear point underneath. However, high-intensity lights are pointed at it, so that at night, it can still glow red or green. [Uncle Flip, 07/19/2003]

Birmingham's beloved Vulcan will return to his perch high above the city by May 2003, and if all goes as planned, he and his completely renovated park will be receiving visitors in the fall. Right now, though, his giant head and arm (the one holding the spear) are sitting in the sculpture garden of the Birmingham Museum of Art, if anyone wants a face-to-face meeting with the god. [Charles Buchanan, 04/26/2003]