Thompson Elk Statue to Return to Portland by Spring 2026 After 2020 Damage

The Return of Portland's Thompson Elk Statue

After five years of absence, the beloved Thompson Elk statue is set to return to its historic home on Southwest Main Street by early spring 2026. City officials confirmed this exciting development, marking a significant milestone in the city’s efforts to restore one of its most iconic landmarks.

The bronze elk, which has stood as a downtown landmark since 1900, was removed in July 2020 after inspectors discovered serious structural issues. This came following damage during nightly protests. The restoration project, costing $2.2 million, has involved quarries in Vermont, fabricators in Ohio, and meticulous preservation work to honor the fountain’s 125-year history.

"We expect this to be finished this winter and the elk to be restored by spring," said David O'Longaigh of the Portland Water Bureau. The restoration effort has required extensive work on the fountain’s granite base, much of which was damaged in fires during the summer of 2020. City officials found that approximately half of the original stone pieces needed replacement, leading to a painstaking process of historical preservation.

"We had to because we had to match the original material," explained Maya Foty, preservation architect with Architectural Resources Group. "We're lucky; a lot of historical quarries are not open and were not available, but this is an active quarry. We were able to procure the original fabric, which was really important for the historic purposes and to match the existing stone."

The new granite was sourced from the same Barre, Vermont, quarry that supplied stone for the original 1900 construction, then shipped to Cleveland for fabrication before arriving in Portland. Workers used historical photographs to replicate damaged pieces exactly.

"It's crazy. It's so simple, right? — move the fountain back — but it's a lot of work," Foty said.

The project timeline may seem like it's taking a long time, but the city says it's on time and on budget. With the design phase, fundraising, the bidding process and the 6-month lead time required to procure and fabricate the Vermont granite, O'Longaigh says it's where it should be.

"When you add all that up, it does seem like each piece together may seem brief, but putting them all together in sequence adds up to a lot of time," O'Longaigh said.

During excavation, workers uncovered surprising details about the fountain's original construction: "A single thin bolt was holding the statue onto the base," O'Longaigh revealed.

The restoration has also modernized the fountain's infrastructure while maintaining its historic appearance. Workers are installing a recirculating pump system that will conserve water resources, a significant upgrade from the original gravity-fed design.

"Our goal here is really to make sure that instead of letting millions of gallons of water just flow into the Willamette, that we can do a little bit of our part to conserve resources," said Brandon Zero of the Portland Water Bureau.

The new system will save 18,720 gallons of water daily, more than 6.8 million gallons annually, enough to supply approximately 146 homes each year. The fountain last flowed in early 2020, when the city shut it down along with other fountains during the COVID-19 pandemic health measures.

"This whole thing worked from gravity; water flowed from gravity from the mountain. So now, we have a recirculating pump, which meant we needed electricity. That wasn't something they had 100 years ago. We had to figure a way of getting electricity to this pump," O'Longaigh said.

Despite the infrastructure changes, the finished product will preserve the fountain's original character.

"I think to the general public, it will look exactly the same. Cleaner, shinier elk — but it's a faithful restoration, but it will look exactly the same to the public," O'Longaigh said.

The project has benefited from a public-private partnership, with the Portland Parks Foundation raising $160,000 to fund the design phase, an investment that accelerated the restoration by as much as a year. The total budget of $2.2 million comes from $700,000 in insurance funding and $1.5 million approved by City Council, with the project remaining on budget and on schedule.

The restored fountain will feature enhanced accessibility, with a bike lane on one side and a combined car and bus lane on the other, different from the original configuration. Updated lighting will illuminate the bronze elk and fountain at night.

"We're working really hard to restore this elk because it's a really important element of the city. I hope folks appreciate just the level of collaboration people are putting into this project in order to bring together public and private donors back to fruition," Zero said.

The Thompson Elk Fountain, donated by former Portland Mayor David P. Thompson in 1900, stands as the city's second-oldest piece of public art. The 9-foot-tall, 3,000-pound bronze sculpture by Roland Hinton Perry has served as both a community gathering place and a site of civic activism for more than a century, from early women's suffrage marches to 2020's racial justice protests.

As crews continue concrete work and prepare to install the historic granite pieces, the bronze elk itself remains in careful storage with the Regional Arts & Culture Council, cleaned and ready for its return to Southwest Main Street between Chapman and Lownsdale squares by spring 2026.