Crews move Big Tex out of storage ahead of big debut
DALLAS (CBSNewsTexas.com) - It's one of the biggest projects of the State Fair: building Big Tex.
Thursday, only CBS News Texas was there was the world's biggest cowboy was brought out of storage and dressed for his big debut.
Rusty Fitzgerald, the senior vice president of operations, is in charge of coordinating the transport of Big Tex.
"We put out memos and everything, 'hey, we're bringing him down this day, don't park here,'" said Fitzgerald.
The procession includes at least a dozen workers helping block off the route and guiding the trailers through the streets of Fair Park. It takes about 20 minutes to move the pieces from storage to Big Tex Circle, and then the real work begins.
"We'll put his jeans on, then we'll put the top of his shirt on," said Fitzgerald. "But I can't get the back of the shirt on, or it tucked in until I get him on the crane in the morning."
You can watch Big Tex get lifted into place live on our CBS Texas Youtube channel on Friday at 10 a.m.