For 40 years, the large neon dragon above the south entrance to the Victoria Crossing East Mall on Grand Avenue has welcomed diners and shoppers, adding a bit of east-meets-west flair to St. Paul’s busiest retail corridor at a time when a Chinese restaurant anchored the space.

A large neon dragon above the south entrance to the Victoria Crossing East Mall on Grand Avenue, which has welcomed diners and shoppers since 1986, is seen in a courtesy photo. (Courtesy of Gretchen Olson)

Creating and installing the wing-less dragon and its mix of Asian and European accents was no small endeavor for Gretchen Olson, a neon glass bender and founder of Northern Lights Neon. Olson and fellow artist Pam Swenson designed, built, painted and installed the electric signage with the help of an electrician and a bucket truck.

“It’s a lot of footage,” said Olson on Thursday, remembering being handed hot tea from the restaurant to keep their hands warm throughout the installation on a frigid day in January 1986. “The head of the dragon has neon tubes, and the tubes in the flames, instead of staying flat, I had them come out three-dimensionally.”

Many of those neon tubes are now broken, and the original lettering “Chinese Cuisine” and “Dragon Lounge” is long gone. “It hasn’t been lit in a long time,” Olson said. “I’ve been heartbroken, seeing it up there all these years just fading with time.”

 A new home

Both women are now retired, and so too is the dragon, which is scheduled to take flight from its mall perch Saturday and make its permanent departure from the corner of Victoria Street and Grand Avenue. The mall at 845 Grand Ave., which recently shuttered, is slated to be demolished this year and replaced by up to 90 apartments above fresh retail.

After discussions with developer Ari Parritz and his company, Afton Park Development, Olson plans to relocate the sign, which she said is 20-feet long and about 6-feet high, as well as the 11 transformers powering its neon tubes.

“As many St. Paulites know, the Victoria Crossing East Mall building will be demolished and replaced this year,” wrote Olson, in a public service announcement of sorts shared on social media. “We worked together with the developer to determine how the dragon could be incorporated into the new building, but after careful consideration, the decision was made to let him move on to a new home.”

That said, the dragon — a popular destination for players of the virtual game Pokemon Go — is not flying all that far.

“We are thrilled to announce that his new home will also be in St. Paul!” Olson wrote.

Attention and sentiment

Parritz on Thursday said he worked with arts consultant Shannon Brunette, who has coordinated the dragon’s relocation with Peter Remes, principal of First & First real estate development.

After a touch-up, the dragon will land somewhere within or on the exterior of the Prior Works building, the former site of the American Can Factory at 755 Prior Ave., which is also home to BlackStack Brewing and the bar, arcade and mini-golf venue Can Can Wonderland.

On social media, more than one neighborhood resident has cheered on the decision to save the dragon, or bemoaned the fact that it won’t remain on site.

“It’s surprising how much attention and how much sentiment there is around this sign,” said Remes, who grew up around Grand Avenue, and predicted on Thursday the dragon could be affixed to the Prior Works building within the next 60 days.

“We really tried hard to get the dragon back into the (future Grand and Victoria) building, but it’s so big,” said Brunette, whose social enterprise consultancy is known as the Office of Cultural Work. “It’s really hard to find a home for something like that.”

‘Worth taking care of’

Also complicating matters were mercury and other potentially hazardous materials in the piece that would make it a questionable addition to a residential space, she said.

“It needs some caretaking and some love before they hang it back up,” Brunette said.

“To be honest, the dragon is a restaurant sign, but we as a community have treated it as a public art work,” she added. “It was worth taking care of it.”

When Parritz recruited her to find a new home for the piece, he was already in touch with Olson, a step other developers might overlook, she said. Often, art decommissioning “is not done with intent or with responsibility and respect,” Brunette said. “There’s no one reaching out to the artist. … To be able to work with Gretchen has been really meaningful.”

The removal happens at 8 a.m. Saturday, after which the sign will undergo a retrofitting for its new home. Olson, in her social media announcement, is asking dragon fans to “stay tuned … on where and when our special dragon will be ready to welcome his fan club again.”

Added Olson on Thursday, “I’m grateful. I’m really happy to see it taken down and getting restored. That’s the best news ever.”

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