Big Chicken
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| The Big Chicken | |
 Big Chicken |
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| Building information | |
|---|---|
| Name | The Big Chicken |
| Location | Marietta, Georgia |
| Country | United States |
| Coordinates | 33°57′05″N 84°31′13″W / 33.9514°N 84.5204°WCoordinates: 33°57′05″N 84°31′13″W / 33.9514°N 84.5204°W |
| Architect | Hubert Puckett |
| Client | Tubby Davis |
| Construction started | 1956, 1993 |
| Completed | 1963 (The Big Chicken structure) |
The Big Chicken is a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant in Marietta, Georgia, which features a large steel-sided structure designed in the appearance of a chicken rising up from the top of the building. It is located at the city's biggest intersection of Cobb Parkway (U.S. 41) and Roswell Road (former Georgia 120) and is a well-known landmark in the area. The exact address is 12 Cobb Parkway North, Marietta GA 30062.
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[edit] History
The restaurant was originally built in 1956, its location the result of the then-new Cobb Parkway being constructed as the first divided highway in the county (20 years before the freeway). Taking advantage of the prime location on the new and quicker route for travelers on U.S. 41, Johnny Reb's Chick, Chuck and Shake owner S.R. "Tubby" Davis erected the 56-foot (17-meter) tall structure over his restaurant in 1963 as a method of advertising. The novelty architecture was designed by Hubert Puckett, a Georgia Tech student of architecture, and fabricated by Atlantic Steel in nearby Atlanta (of which Marietta is a suburb). Davis later sold it to his brother, and it became a franchise of KFC.
In January 1993, storm winds damaged the structure, and rather than tear it down KFC was forced by public outcry to re-erect the building. Among those who complained about the Big Chicken being torn down were pilots, who actually used the building as a reference point when approaching Atlanta and Dobbins Air Reserve Base.[1] The new Big Chicken even includes the original design of beak and eyes which move, although this time the vibrations which plagued the first structure (even to the point of breaking windows) have been eliminated. Pieces of the original structure were sold to collectors as souvenirs. In early April 2006, the structure narrowly escaped a small eastward-moving nighttime tornado, which overturned a tractor-trailer at the Kmart across the street, and damaged another building just down the street to the east.
The Big Chicken is commonly used as a landmark for driving directions. Locals will often include "make a [turn] at the Big Chicken", or "it's about x miles past the Big Chicken". Even prior to its geographic coordinates being added to Wikipedia, it was automatically marked on Google Maps.
It has also led to a small cottage industry of sorts, selling souvenirs emblazoned with the monument, including one sweatshirt showing Big Ben in London, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Colosseum in Rome, and of course, the Big Chicken in Marietta. A board game featuring the Big Chicken and other local landmarks was also produced. There was also a comedy Big Chicken Chorus in the 1990s, which produced an album called Poultry In Motion, and another called We Need a Little Christmas.
[edit] See also
[edit] Further reading
- Albert C. Smith and Kendra Schank, "A Grotesque Measure for Marietta", Journal of Urban Design, 13574809, Oct99, Vol. 4, Issue 3.
