Fremont Lenin

Fremont Lenin Statue

Fremont Lenin Statue

For many people, the terms "Lenin" and "Communism" evoke dark memories of the Cold War, and the potential for mutually assured nuclear destruction. For other people, however, the remnants of the former Soviet Union are noteworthy for their cultural significance in the world's larger historic picture. Irrespective of how one feels about the former Soviet Union, its art, propaganda, and iconography, one can view some of it with ease in Seattle in the form of a giant, sixteen ton iron statue of Lenin which now sits on Fremont street corner. Originally designed and constructed in 1988 by Emil Venkov, it was later consigned to a trashheap (literally) after the Berlin Wall fell and the Cold War ended. Slightly before it was scheduled to be melted down, a Seattle resident, Lewis Carpenter found it, and felt that it should be preserved. For $41,000.00 Carpenter was able to purchase the statue, and move it to Fremont, where it has resided since, despite mixed feelings about its presence. Since Carpenter's passing in 1994, the statue has been for sale on numerous occasions, however, as of the present date, no party has stepped forward to make an artistic purchase of this magnitude.