The sudden absence of a well-known landmark has concerned some San Diegans.
The stork, visible to thousands of commuters driving along Highway 163, has served as a symbol of maternity for more than 50 years.
Lately, the stork has been absent from its perch above the parking garage at Sharp Mary Birch Hospital For Women and Newborns.
Some residents have even called the hospital asking, "Where's the stork?"
“We have taken the stork down because he is need of a little TLC," said Mary Henrikson, Senior Vice President and CEO of Sharp Mary Birch Hospital For Women and Newborns, commented. "He needs to be repainted and he has leg that is rusted out so we need to get that repaired."
The stork first came to the hospital from the 1960 Rose Bowl Parade. A hospital administrator was watching the parade and noticed a giant stork on a float called, “The Birds and the Bees”. Coincidentally, the maternity wing at Sharp Hospital had just opened, and it seemed natural that stork join the maternity wing if the parade had no future use for it. After Sharp administrators asked, the stork was donated to the hospital when the parade was over.
The maternity wing inherited the nickname, “Stork Club”. Today, it is a part of the Sharp Mary Birch Hospital For Women and Newborns, where the most babies are delivered in California. Henrikson assured San Diegans that the stork will return to its rightful perch on Wednesday morning: “All will be well. The stork will be in its place.”
