El Paso’s iconic Ronald McDonald statue gets much-needed makeover outside charity home bearing his name
EL PASO, Texas -- The iconic Ronald McDonald statue that stands outside of the Ronald McDonald House in central El Paso has been around for years, but sometimes even icons need makeovers.
"He sits out here welcoming families and he also acts as an iconic figure for the Ronald McDonald House Charities," said Frank Lopez, executive director of The Ronald McDonald House Charities of El Paso.
The iconic 6-foot tall Ronald McDonald statue is a symbol of comfort for families dealing with seriously ill children.
"When families come with other children, besides the one that's in the hospital, they're kinda scared. They're not sure where they're coming to so I think just seeing a face like Ronald brings them a little bit of joy," said Lopez.
The statue has been around since the creation of the original Ronald McDonald home back in 1984.
It was re-done nearly six years ago, but not even Ronald could withstand this El Paso weather.
"Ronald had a few years on him. He was cracking up a little bit and not in a good way," said Tiffany Meneffe, president of Pronto Body Shop.
Lopez reached out to Meneffe to see if she could provide Ronald with a new makeover.
"The Ronald McDonald House has done so much for our community and when we were asked if we would look at revamping the statue, without hesitation we said yes," said Meneffe.
The process to restore Ronald was not an easy one.
"To redo Ronald we had to actually remove all of the paint off of him. He had a lot of paint layers from the 70s on up I think. Maybe longer than that so we had to take all of that off," said Meneffe, "Once he was stripped down we had to sand him, repair him put his leg back on."
El Paso artist Victor Casas was in charge of painting the detail work on Ronald.
"He was kind enough to donate his time to do this work and we were able to put a clear coat on him to sort of seal him from the elements," said Meneffe.
Staff at the Ronald McDonald House are hoping that this new paint job will last for a few more decades.
"20, 30 years would be good," said Lopez, "that would be great if he could last that long. We'll do our best to keep him safe and well.”
