MUSCATINE, Iowa — Talk about a mammoth melon! What could be the world's largest watermelon now officially calls Muscatine's riverfront home.
The giant metal structure is 40 feet across, 26 feet tall and weighs 16,000 pounds. That's roughly 800 times heavier than your regular watermelon from the grocery store.
It all began back in June when Muscatine Mayor Dr. Brad Bark was thinking of ways to beautify the city's riverfront. After chatting with a local business, the mayor realized there was nothing around town to honor Muscatine's famous melons.
"We have the string of pearls lighting up and down the riverfront. We have the clammer. We have the beautiful bridge. But there's nothing watermelon related," Bark said.
The soil beneath and around Muscatine is uniquely sandy. It helps create the perfect acidic conditions needed to grow sweet, juicy melons. Ask around town and they'll tell you Muscatine watermelons and cantaloupes are the best in the world.
It didn't take long until the city had rallied together local groups and businesses to bring the melon dreams to life. Within 36 hours, nearly all of the funding for a new art installation of a giant watermelon had been pulled together.
Perhaps even sweeter? Thanks to financial and in-kind donations from 19 different entities, the metal melon didn't cost taxpayers a dime.
"We're the Pearl City and now Melon City also," Bark laughed.
Back in August, News 8 brought you an exclusive, behind-the-scenes look as the watermelon was being locally built at Silver Hawk Fabrication. More than 350 hours went into the structure's assembly. Giant, 40-foot-long sheets of metal were fastened around stiffeners and carefully bent into shape. From there, the melon was welded together with more than 1,200 linear feet of seamless welds.
Once the shape was completed, Muscatine artist Johan Umaña spent about three weeks crafting its unique design. The life-like watermelon almost looks like it is glistening, and it proudly displays 'Muscatine, World's Finest Melons' on each side.
"One of the original ideas was to have a big sign somewhere on the riverfront saying 'Welcome to Muscatine' or something like that," Bark said. "Well, this accomplishes that!"
Finally, on the morning of Sept. 20, a Canadian-Pacific train carefully hauled the massive melon from Silver Hawk Fabrication to the city's riverfront. The roughly five-mile journey almost identically mirrors the trips Muscatine's watermelons would take via rail from the Rock Island Depot in Fruitland - right next to Silver Hawk Fabrication's current location - down to the city's center.
"So it was kind of revisiting history all the way back to Muscatine," John Gaeta said.
Gaeta was one of dozens of people who dotted the railway and gathered along the riverfront to watch the melon's delivery. A lifelong resident of Muscatine, he's happy to see increased interest in the town.
"I feel pride for Muscatine. It's nice to see a town be proud of itself," Gaeta said. "People take better care of things that way."
As the giant structure chugged along on its railway journey, watermelon watchers dotted each intersection and side street. Although, it didn't take much work to spot the large piece of fruit towering over homes and buildings.
One of those sightseers was Buddy Burton who made the drive down from Cedar Rapids just for the occasion.
"It's very interesting! It's a good thing for Muscatine and for the area," Burton noted.
Finally, the watermelon made it to the riverfront and was safely deposited onto its foundation. For the gathered crowd, it was a one-in-a-melon moment.
"Instead of the big bean in Chicago, we have the big watermelon," laughed Tammy Cadena.
The Illinois City resident made the short drive across the Mississippi to watch the melon's installation. She broadcast the entire ordeal on a Facebook Live saying too many of her loved ones that have moved away wanted to see it all go down.
"I've got people already saying we're going to have to come and see it," Cadena said.
Moving forward, Mayor Bark hopes the watermelon becomes a beacon for Muscatine.
"I want people to take pictures next to this melon and to enjoy it," Bark said. "This is amazing! It's been a long time coming. This is what happens when you get a town and businesses within the county working together. You get this masterpiece - really, a great piece of art."
You can enjoy a time-lapse of the watermelon's journey via train here:
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