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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Landmarks: West Central’s giant steel man is complete

Boris has his airplane.

Boris Borzum is a 16-foot-tall steel man in Spokane’s West Central neighborhood who stands atop a base made from metal I-beams that are secured in place by two 2,500-pound cement blocks. From his perch on the corner of Kay Howard’s property at the intersection of College Avenue and Summit Boulevard, his metal gaze is fixed toward the traditional flight path of planes approaching Spokane International Airport and Fairchild Air Force Base.

There the 5-ton Boris has stood since 2010. Howard had been looking for the past eight years for an airplane to attach to the top of his uplifted right arm, where his missing hand should be. (The history of Boris, how he came to reside in the West Central neighborhood and Howard’s search for an airplane for Boris were all detailed in a “Landmarks” story Feb. 1 in The Spokesman-Review’s Voice sections.)

Boris was created in 1975 and was used as the image of Empire Boring, a Spokane-based company that specialized in horizontal underground boring. His first and last name, variations on the word “boring,” were given to him by the company’s owner.

When the company was merged with another and its headquarters moved out of Spokane, Boris needed a new home. Kay and Don Howard were friends of company owner Wally Taylor and company foreman Jerry Shoemaker, so they offered their property.

“Because both of those men were pilots,” Kay Howard said, “I thought a plane that could be mounted as a weather vane would be perfect for Boris’ right hand and a tribute to our friends who have since died.” And so the search began.

After Boris’ story appeared in the newspaper, Howard heard from her retired family doctor, Ted Toribara, who had a plane to give her – a model of an F-117 stealth fighter. It has a wing span of about 2 feet.

Originally she had hoped to find a 4-foot plane, “but this is the one I got, so I am very happy to have it.”

She contacted the Spokane Fire Department to see if they might help her get it mounted.

Spokane Fire Department Chief Brian Schaeffer agreed that it would be a good community outreach opportunity, reinforce the department’s place in the neighborhood and a way to give back to West Central.

“Boris is part of this neighborhood,” he said. “We see opportunities every day to help, and sometimes something out of the box like Boris comes along. It was a low-risk endeavor and provided us a good training opportunity.”

Capt. Maeve Griffith, of Spokane Fire Station No. 3, arranged to use Station No. 2’s new ladder truck that has an aerial platform to work from. There had been some training with the new truck already taking place, and the Boris project would provide good experience in a neighborhood setting.

So on June 14, it all came together. Working from the platform that was extended over Howard’s fence, Griffith drilled into Boris’ thick steel plating to put the plane just where it needed to be while others maneuvered the platform and provided support. It didn’t take long.

And so, Boris has his airplane, which is now firmly in place as he keeps his eye toward the sky and the civilian and military planes that come and go out on the West Plains. The visitors who still come by to see Boris can also now view his stealth fighter weather vane.

And Howard is pleased the Boris project has been completed and she can just sit back and enjoy the view from her own home.