Aaron Perry, owner of Gearhead Curios in Galena, Kansas, recently received a $12,500 tourism attraction development grant from the state to help build his planned “Big A the Texaco Man” statue at the site.
“Everything is on target for a July installation,” Perry wrote in a Facebook post.
An outsized check was presented to Perry from a Kansas tourism official.
Perry announced his plans to have Enchanted Castle Studios fabricate “Big A” in December. Enchanted Castle has made other Muffler Men fiberglass giants — most notably Buck Atom of Buck Atom’s Cosmic Curios on Route 66 in Tulsa.
Perry in 2018 acquired a 1939 Texaco gas station along Route 66 in downtown Galena.
Since then, he’s added a Doc Hudson replica from the “Cars” movie, installed neon lighting and added a modified Big Boy statue, along with a lot of renovations to the site.
Also this month, Perry and Gearhead Curios won the inaugural Outstanding Attraction award from the Jefferson Highway Association.
(Artist’s rendering of “Big A the Texaco Man” for Gearhead Curios in Galena, Kansas, courtesy of Perry)