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Otto the Otter is a large otter sculpture of rods, pipes and cement in Adams Park, also called Grotto Park, on the east edge of Fergus Falls, Minnesota. High school machine-shop students built it in 1972; WCCO gave its size as 40 feet.
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Otto the Otter
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Site-level location · 46.2771° N, 96.0609° W
FIELD GUIDE
The story
Fergus Falls is the county seat of Otter Tail County and its school teams are the Otters, so it is no surprise the town has a giant one. WCCO described Otto as a 40-foot otter statue in Adams Park on the east edge of town, overlooking Grotto Lake since 1972.
A handful of high school machine-shop students built it from rods, pipes and cement as a centennial gift for the city. Their first attempts did not much resemble an otter, and their teacher credited local metal artist Steve Jaenisch with saving the project. Jaenisch told WCCO that "must have been 100,000 kids" had been photographed on top of it.
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PRACTICAL
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WHAT TO EXPECT
A large otter statue in a city park beside Grotto Lake. The Central Lakes Trail lists a baseball field, playground equipment and two picnic shelters with tables and a grill at the park. WCCO reported that local children had long climbed on top of Otto for the view.
ACCESS
Adams Park, commonly called Grotto Park, lies along east Vernon Avenue on the east edge of Fergus Falls. It is a city park, donated to the city in 1938 for park and recreational use.
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