Largest Sculpture at any U.S. Public Zoo is a Steel Menagerie. It’s 130 ft long, 36 ft high and 100 tons of Cor-Ten…and made by the GWFab team.

If you know anything about working with metal then you know the tireless man hours that went into this break taking art display. The artist, Albert Paley, painstakingly monitored with meticulous detail the fabrication and design of this architectural feat. Mark Andol and his team are famous for saying “You dream it, we build or repair it”…so here we are 14 years later and this steel creation is still a wonder!

5,000 hours total, 300 hours just to sort the plasma cut parts to sort and tag them built with 1/2 – 2 inch thick cor-ten steel and loaded onto 18 semi trucks. “The team did a phenomenal job! It was our largest and ultimate fabrication project,” said Mark Andol, Founder of General Welding & Fabricating.

The St. Louis Zoo explains it best, “If you enter Forest Park from Hampton Avenue, you can’t miss it. It’s 130 feet long, 36 feet high and over 100 tons of Cor-Ten steel. Animals Always is the largest sculpture at any public zoo in the United States. The sculpture features over 60 animals peeking out from behind sculpted trees, ferns and other plant life. The sculptor, Albert Paley, conceived the idea of this steel menagerie more than two years when he met St. Louisan Thelma Zalk, who wanted to bring the idea to fruition at the Saint Louis Zoo. Paley worked closely with Zoo staff to represent animals that are featured at the Saint Louis Zoo. Many of the animals, fish and plant life depicted are also endangered to inspire future generations to protect our natural world.” – Read More about the Steel Menagerie at stlzoo.org and remember General Welding & Fabricating is here for you, no matter how small or how big the project is…