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Erasmus is a 25-foot-long aluminium dragon sculpture on the roof of the Old Western Hotel building, 826 S. Third Street, Renton, Washington. Built by Western Neon and installed in April 2019, it was a Renton Municipal Arts Commission project.
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Erasmus the Rooftop Dragon
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Site-level location · 47.4798° N, 122.2056° W
FIELD GUIDE
The story
Look up from South 3rd Street and Wells Avenue South in downtown Renton and a dragon appears to have just landed on the roof. Erasmus is a 25-foot-long aluminium sculpture on the Old Western Hotel building, weighing 700 pounds according to Visit Renton and 710 according to MyNorthwest. Visit Renton, in February 2026, says the idea came in 2016 from the Renton Municipal Arts Commission, with the aim of enhancing downtown and promoting tourism, and links the dragon to Renton's gaming culture and its home-town company Wizards of the Coast. Western Neon built it in its shops and a crane lifted it onto the roof. Visit Renton says it was designed to look as though it has just landed, a playful reference to roof damage from past earthquakes, and that it has glowing LED eyes and a colour-changing mouth. MyNorthwest described the building as more than 100 years old and the project as three years of work gathering funds, commissioning local artists and working with the building's owner. It was unveiled on 13 April 2019, and the name, honouring Renton's founder Erasmus Smithers, was chosen by public vote during a naming competition at the opening celebration. Visit Renton says an annual street fair on Wells Avenue now marks the occasion; MyNorthwest called the 2022 event Hatch Day and reported a dragon-themed scavenger hunt.
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WHAT TO EXPECT
Erasmus sits on the roof of the Old Western Hotel building and is seen from the street in downtown Renton, with LED eyes and a colour-changing mouth, according to Visit Renton. An annual street fair on Wells Avenue marks the unveiling.
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On the roof of the Old Western Hotel building, 826 S. Third Street, Renton, at the corner of South 3rd and Wells Avenue South. It is viewed from the street; the building is not described as open to visitors.
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