Willie the Whale being restored, heading to Kokomo

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A fixture of the original Indianapolis Zoo has been purchased by the city of Kokomo and is set to be restored near the city’s downtown area.

“Willie the Whale” is a well-known landmark across Indianapolis. He was made in the early 1960s by a former Ball State University professor and spent 15 years at the original zoo.

The city of Kokomo asked local artist Justin Olson to fix the 26-foot whale. Olson plans to restore Willie to his original state.

“There’s a lot of people that like nostalgic things and remembering the past,” Olson said. “He’s kind of been all over the place. It’s kind of unusual for a fiberglass whale.”

The massive whale is a well-known landmark.

“He’s been sitting for over a year in Rushville,” Olson said. “I just think they didn’t want to take on the project.”

Olson owns a painting company and is excited to get Willie back to his original color.

“We are going to get him back to the original cream color and do some decorative waves along the side of him,” he said. “We’re going to do a timeline of his history because he’s kind of been all over the place.”

Olson says it’s going to take some time and lots of work, that’s why he asked his friend to help with the fiberglass.

“We’re going to have to work in stages,” fiberglass expert, Jean Hartman said. “The fiberglass takes a decent amount of time. I think every city is going to want one of these and we’ll be able to do it for every city in the state.”

After his time at the zoo, Willie was sent to Boogie Mountain, a water park on the east side of Indianapolis. After that, Willie went to Fun Spot Mark in Angola. Once it closed in 2008, the decorative whale sat in an empty field. The city of Rushville then took custody of Willie. Most recently, he was at the Indianapolis Museum of Art as part of the mini-golf course.

“You find out the history of him and how many people have contacted us about finishing him and it makes us more passionate about finishing him,” Olson said.

The project will take about six weeks. It’s expected to be completed at the end of March.