Dan's Papers - October 12, 2007

The Big Duck pulled onto Route 24 at 11:15 p.m. last Friday night and was headed home - four miles up Route 24 to the same spot it came from in 1988. Powered by self propelled, hydraulic, remote controlled dollies, which allowed the duck to "float" on oil, eliminating any cracking or twisting that might otherwise occur in the thin concrete shell, the duck left its home of the past 19 years without a hitch.

D. Guest is a marketing assistant at Bay Street Theatre and an assistant for Davis Construction Building Movers. She was present at the moving of the Big Duck.

After clearing its former foundation, Guy Davis of Davis Construction House and Building Movers handed over the remote control to his eleven-year-old daughter Rose, who flawlessly steered the duck out onto the open road. Rose was forced to relinquish the remote about 15 minutes later to her nine-year-old sister Violet, who was anxious to assume control. These girls are highly skilled in maneuvering structures of all sizes and shapes, and in April they even helped their dad drive the six de Menil houses down Montauk Highway to East Hampton Town Hall.

With his daughters sharing the control, Guy was able to relax for a few minutes with fellow mover Greg Williams, both of whom hopped on the front beams of the duck for a quick ride.

It was only after the Davis daughters got bored of duck driving that I got my first crack at steering the duck down the road. The instructions seemed simple at first - hold the remote in one hand and when necessary move the specified switch with the other hand. To keep the duck in the middle of the road, lightly toggle the switch up and the duck moves left, tap it down and the duck moves right. But simple it was not. It was dark, everyone was watching my every move, and at that time of night with all that pressure, who could remember up is left and down is right?

I had to relinquish control after about twenty minutes as we came upon the first set of overhead utility wires that needed to be moved. All utility companies were on hand to raise or drop the necessary lines for the duck to cross.

The duck was followed by a mob of cars and ambulances filled with Southampton Town officials including Town Engineer George Mooto, Deputy Supervisor Richard Ross and several State Troopers. There were over 200 people cheering along the route, even Donna Eshghi, daughter of former duck owners Kia and Puran Eshghi, who was there videotaping the move for an upcoming PBS duckumentary!

After 1.4 miles, Southampton Town Police Lt. Robert Pierce asked Guy if he could speed up the excruciatingly slow move. So Guy quickly hitched the Big Duck up to a Davis Construction pickup truck and proceeded to pull the duck at a much faster speed, until the last leg of the journey where there were utility lines every few feet. Then he stopped the duck, unhitched it from the truck and switched back to remote control steering, because the reverberations from the truck were making it harder to maneuver the duck underneath the lines.

The duck pulled into its new home safely at around 3:45 a.m. on Saturday morning. It was lowered onto its new foundation on Saturday morning and the beams and dollies were removed in time for the welcome home celebration at 1 p.m.

Guy Davis of Davis Construction House and Building Movers, who donated the moving services, said, "The move couldn't have gone smoother. It's exciting to see the Big Duck back at its home. Preservation is especially important on the East End, because there are so many historically significant structures in good condition. The Big Duck has left its mark on the world of architecture and is a proud landmark for all Long Islanders."