Blue Whale landmark fishes for grant

CATOOSA, Okla. - A Route 66 icon is up for a grant that could help restore it to its former glory. Help could be on the way for the iconic Blue Whale.

An 80 foot blue whale sits in a pond along Route 66 in Catoosa. It's been there since the 1970s.

"The Blue Whale means home. The Blue Whale is our own little part of the world. It just gives us something to be proud of," said
Jennifer Edwards, president of the Catoosa Chamber of Commerce.

The Blue Whale has become a landmark for tourists travelling Route 66. International tourists and visitors from across the country have left similar comments behind.

"Leave it the same. We want the whale to look just like this from now on. Please preserve it, please do what you have to do to keep it exactly like the way it is," Edwards said.

The city of Catoosa applied for a $600,000 grant to do just that. The grant would help the city buy the Blue Whale and expand its parking lot, install signs and build a trail to a nearby shopping center.

"I'm amazed that it's still standing, even in the condition it's in. But hopefully with more money and volunteer help, we'll make it a little bit better," said Ashley Davis, the great-granddaughter of the builder of the Blue Whale, Hugh Davis.

Davis built it for his wife because she loved whales.

"He got a pond, he got the land, and what better than to put a whale, to jump off and swim," Ashley Davis said.

The swimming hole closed in 1988, but Davis says the Blue Whale itself never really closed down. Ron Edwards is one of the volunteers who keeps it up and running.

"In a small town, everybody gravitates to certain things. And the Blue Whale's just one of those things," he said.

Edwards hopes the grant comes through, and keeps the whale swimming.

"In 2010 it turned basically 40 years old. And as good a job as Hugh did building it, there's certain things that need to be brought back up," Edwards said.

Sunday night is your last chance to see the Blue Whale decked out in Christmas lights for the holiday season. The lights will be on from 5:30 p.m. to midnight.