Trolls are notorious shape-shifters, but the famous Bay Bridge troll chose to remain in his original form during his installation in the Oakland Museum of California last month.
The famous Bay Bridge troll will be on display at its new temporary home at the Oakland Museum of California though February 2014. Photo by Joel Williams
By Natalie Orenstein
Published: December, 2013
Trolls are notorious shape-shifters, but the famous Bay Bridge troll chose to remain in his original form during his installation in the Oakland Museum of California last month.
The steel troll stood guard on the original East Span for 24 years, first staking out his post in 1989 when the section of the bridge’s upper deck destroyed in the Loma Prieta earthquake was repaired. Rescued from the old East Span when the bridge closed over Labor Day weekend to make way for the opening of its replacement, the gargoyle-like figure has been in limbo ever since, until arriving at the museum.
On hand for the museum installation was the troll’s creator, artist and blacksmith Bill Roan. At the time of the troll’s fabrication, Roan worked at a West Oakland ornamental blacksmith shop and shared the space with the ironworkers who repaired the collapsed bridge section. When a fellow blacksmith suggested that Roan — who was known to stay in the studio working on personal projects well into the night — create a sculpture to adorn the new bridge section, Roan told him it was the stupidest idea he’d ever heard. "No one was going to let me put a sculpture on the bridge, and it was probably against the law," he said.
But Roan had great admiration for the bridge fabricators, and eventually was convinced to create a piece that would serve as an homage to them, albeit a top-secret one. In less than five days, Roan "made the troll, gave it to the men, and the rest is Bay Area history," he said. In what has been called a "rogue act," the troll was installed on the repaired upper deck, where he covertly guarded the bridge against future quakes and other calamities until a reporter spotted him some time later.
The troll will reside on land in the Oakland Museum’s Gallery of California History through the end of February 2014. After that, his fate is a little less clear. A new troll has been created and groomed for installation on the new East Span, and Roan is petitioning for the old troll to join him.
The Oakland Museum is an appropriate home for the troll, at least temporarily, said Senior Curator of History Louise Pubols. "This is our ‘Year of the Bay,’" said Pubols, referring to the current multi-gallery natural history exhibit entitled Above and Below: Stories from our Changing Bay. The show features the troll’s "twin brother," a land-dwelling replica created for the ironworkers. Although the two trolls are situated in different rooms in the museum, the reunion is a cause for celebration.
"It feels great to have the two brothers back together," Pubols said. "There was a huge amount of excitement and interest in this piece when it came in."
"He’s been in good hands with Caltrans and is in good hands now with the museum," Roan said.
Roan was inspired by the bridge-guarding troll in the fairytale "Three Billy Goats Gruff" when he created the troll. The devilish troll’s horns are a reference to the story, and his webbed feet are necessary for his aquatic duties. When Roan first measured his steel creation, he recorded a height of 14 inches. But when the troll came down from the bridge, he measured 18 inches. Roan was unsurprised, since trolls are shape-shifters.
But the height change is hardly the only mystery to surround Roan’s handiwork.
Before the installation, Roan told the story of the troll’s inception, revealing that in the short period of time before he created the little guy, the artist saw several "rolling flashes of white energy" every few nights in the studio. To this day he has found no explanation for the phenomenon. And one weekend he left another sculpture, San Andreas, a humanoid figure designed to serve as an "earthquake god," on his workbench over the weekend. He returned to find that the metal on the base had, seemingly impossibly, split apart.
Now that the troll is living on land with his twin, the mischief and mystery may very well continue. "If museum workers don’t watch at night, it may come down from its perch and visit its friend," Roan said.
The troll stood guard on the original East Span of the Bay Bridge for 24 years, first appearing after the bridge’s upper deck was damaged in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. The troll was installed by bridge workers in what was called a “rogue act.” Photo by Joel Williams
