[1] The project was spearheaded by Mayor Jim Puckett, who said the roadside attraction could target drivers on the nearby Interstate, which is a 20-minute drive from the city.
[1] By May 2021, work was completed on the steel skeletal structure of the topiary, with a total of weight of about 19.5 short tons (17.7 t)[2] and a height of about 62 feet (19 m) tall.
[note 1][1] In addition, the bottom of the structure would contain a room that tourists could rent out as a honeymoon suite or a bed and breakfast.
[6] While Mayor Puckett defended the spending as an investment in tourism that would deliver a strong return on investment (noting that the chicken project had been covered on the front page of The Wall Street Journal twice since it was announced),[6][2] others in the city were opposed to the spending, and, according to NPR, the mayoral elections in November 2021 served as a "giant chicken referendum".
[2] Puckett lost reelection, with about 91 percent of voters voting against him,[7] and following this, the city council put a freeze on new spending for the project until the newly elected mayor took office in January 2022.