Badger statue

Manitowoc has put a badger on its lakefront that visitors can turn around for the photograph. In June 2020 Seehafer News reported that the city had unveiled a badger sculpture near the S.S. Badger dock, which Mayor Justin Nickels described as roughly 14 feet tall. He said it would welcome out-of-state visitors, adding: "This sculpture also spins around so you can take the perfect selfie with it! Just grab its caulking mallet (which was used to build schooners)." Seehafer News names Carl Vanderheyden and Nick Mueller as its creators; the county tourism site Coolest Coast credits Vanderheyden and dates the piece to about 2020. Coolest Coast titles the piece Shipbuilder the Badger, and Visit Manitowoc, in an October 2025 post on the city's photo spots, describes it as a movable, welcoming badger. The post says the badger can turn to face the lake to welcome passengers on the S.S. Badger Lake Michigan Carferry, or face the city so a picture can include the carferry behind it, and that visitors should not pass up the chance even when the carferry is not in town. The post describes the badger as Wisconsin's state animal. It stands at 900 S. Lakeview Drive, on the lakefront.