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Capitol View®
Brian Bakst

A tall tale? A $300K request for Green Giant museum

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The Jolly Green Giant embodies the frozen and canned food legacy of south-central Minnesota. Ann Arbor Miller / MPR News

The Jolly Green Giant is in search of some green, as in state dollars for a tribute to the commercial icon and the vegetable-producing legacy he embodies.

A legislator from Vernon Center is pushing for up to $300,000 in state bond funds to help the city of Blue Earth build a Green Giant Museum. The money would be released once $150,000 in private financing is raised.

Republican Sen. Julie Rosen said the mascot and his jingle are known to vegetable eaters nationwide. In Blue Earth, there's a 55-foot Jolly Green Giant statue, which turns 40 years old in 2018.

Rosen said the story of the Green Giant and the area canning industry needs to be told.

"When you think of the Green Giant, you think of Minnesota. Like I said, it's their history. They decorate him for Christmas and all the holidays," Rosen said. "He really is something to see."

Rep. Bob Gunther, R-Fairmont, is the House sponsor.

The request for state construction financing will compete with many others lawmakers are considering this session as they craft the so-called bonding bill. It takes a three-fifths majority to pass.

It's far from the only financing proposal around a project associated with a famous name. There are also pitches for money toward the Casey Jones Trail, the Lake Snoopy Trail and the Lake Wobegon Trail.