Huron icon gets fresh look, but future remains unclear

HURON – With a new coat of paint here and there, the World’s Largest Pheasant continues to proudly greet visitors to Huron as it has done for 60 years.
But its longterm future remains uncertain for now.
The Huron Chamber & Visitors Bureau has a registered trademark on the huge fiberglass bird, but doesn’t own either it or the building upon which it’s perched along Highway 14 at the east entrance to town.
The building and pheasant are on the market for $180,000, a price the chamber feels is too steep. The board also is not interested in owning another building.
The chamber’s lease covering the pheasant expires in the fall of 2020, said Laurie Shelton, president and chief executive officer of the organization.
Not wanting to make a decision on its own, the chamber’s board of directors sent out a survey in the spring to find out what the community thought. It went to chamber members and was on Facebook.
“The majority of the responses came back that people wanted the pheasant because that’s what Huron is known for,” Shelton said.

Some said it didn’t matter to them where the pheasant was located, while others said they like where it is now. Some thought the bird should be moved.
But engineers who have inspected the condition of the phesant have said they don’t believe it can structurally withstand a move, even for a short distance.
For now, a decision is on hold.
“Come January of next year, we’ll start looking at our negotiations with the owner on what we can do with that existing pheasant and the lease with that,” Shelton said. “We are unsure what will happen when that lease comes up in October 2020.”
Wind and hail damage that caused some cosmetic problems a year ago was covered by insurance.
“According to the lease, we were required to use our proceeds to restore the pheasant with those funds,” she said.
Schaun Schnathorst, thanks to a lift provided by Ferguson Electric, has finished repainting and applying a clear coat on the bird. Insurance would not have been enough to cover a complete restoration.
Chamber officials feel the ideal situation would be if the pheasant was located on city-owned property from now well into the future. But they don’t want to construct a new bird.
“We don’t want to have two competing pheasants,” Shelton said. “We’re just waiting to see what will happen.”