An 18-foot bronze statue of a historically accurate boilermaker greets visitors to Purdue athletic facilities. Sculptor Jon Hair of Cornelius, NC began work on the statue in 2003 on behalf of an anonymous donor who wanted to present Purdue with a statue of the world’s largest boilermaker. The university researched several old photographs and newspaper articles to ensure the statue would depict what real boilermakers wore when they worked in boiler rooms in the 19th century.
