CHICAGO — The lions are headed to the spa. The dinosaur went to the dumpster. It’s been a hectic week for iconic animals in Chicago.
Conservators lifted the Chicago Art Institute’s famous Michigan Avenue lions from their plinths and loaded them onto a truck for planned maintenance Tuesday morning. And closer to Lake Michigan, the Brachiosaurus cast lording over DuSable Lake Shore Drive at the Field Museum was disassembled and discarded Monday after a routine inspection revealed severe damage.
The Art Institute’s lions are set to get a statue-spa treatment. They’ll be high-pressured steamed, checked for corrosion and given a hot wax.
