Iconic Mounds View Mermaid Statue Removed

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The removal of a mermaid statue in the north metro has caused a lot of pushback from the community.

A petition to save it has more than 1,600 signatures as of Friday afternoon.

The mermaid statue had been on top of the Mermaid Entertainment and Event Center in Mounds View for more than 50 years.

The event management said it had to be removed this week because it was not structurally sound.

The 30-foot-tall topless mermaid statue was hard to miss along Highway 10.

"She is Mounds View history, that's her home, that's where she should be," said Jennifer Curtis, who started the petition.

The statue was taken down from the roof of the center on Tuesday, which was announced by management in a Facebook post.

The post gained hundreds of comments, with fans of the Mermaid asking to save her.

One woman wrote, "I drive by it three nights a week, and tonight it was dark, and made me feel quite nostalgic … It's not the same without her."

"When people are coming to visit, they'll go, 'Oh yeah, go past the mermaid about four blocks.' Literally everybody knows," Curtis said.

She immediately started the online petition to save the iconic statue. Her parents met at the event center, and she also worked there for 11 years.

"It means a lot to that community," Curtis said.

By Thursday, Mermaid's management said that the beloved statue was in storage, and that they would explore other options of keeping her on the property.

"If they aren't able to do that or not willing to do that, I would hope she can go to a sculpture garden where she can still be enjoyed for years to come," Curtis said.

The mermaid statue is not a historical landmark, but it is noted on the Minnesota Historical Society's website as a roadside attraction.

Mermaid's management tells WCCO they have to get approval from the city before deciding to put up the statue anywhere else on the property.