Giant troll sculpture to be installed at Pease Park

AUSTIN, Texas - The city of Austin is making room for a new landmark.

An oversize troll is coming to Pease Park, designed by international recycling art activist Thomas Dambo. Dambo has created more than 100 trolls worldwide, and his bringing his talents to central Austin.

"I think it looks very cool, it looks very cool, I’d love to come down and see it," Pease Park visitor Mike Krell said.

North of Kingsbury commons at Pease Park, a wooded area with a mulch trail leads to what is now the future home of a Thomas Dambo troll, following an extensive community engagement and review process with the City of Austin. It is already gaining attention from park visitors.

"The question I think about, is it for adults or is it for kids or is it for both?" Krell said. "If I’m a kid, I think walking up and seeing a big troll is kind of cool."

According to the Pease Park Conservancy, the majority of the wood used to build the troll has been sourced from Harvest Lumber, a sawmill dedicated to giving new life to Austin’s fallen trees.

"I'm glad that they are using recyclable, because I feel like the earth is suffering from our actions, and I feel like it is good that we are reusing resources," Pease Park visitor Jayla Williams said. 

"It's fantastic, right," Krell said. "Anything we can do to reduce waste, that's a great deal."

Visitors say the new addition to the park does come with a few concerns.

"The biggest part with this park is parking. Our friends are trolling for parking, we were trolling for parking," Krell said. "It's always a problem down here, I’m not sure that they have found any way to alleviate that problem."

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"It will attract a lot of people," Williams said. "It is going to be a lot of more people and a lot more parking issues." 

The Pease Park Conservancy says visitors should walk, bike, or take public transportation to visit the park if possible.

"This is a great park for kids," Krell said. "It's got great structures, it has good, great spaces, it's huge, it's large and the reason it is packed is because it is a big, huge park." 

According to the non-profit organization, Thomas Dambo has granted a 15-year exclusive license to the artwork in the park as long as the conservancy maintains the sculpture.

The Tejemos Foundation has donated funds for the installation and maintenance of the troll.