BOUNTIFUL—The whimsical dragon who has been looking out over Town Square since last year has found a permanent home. The City Council voted unanimously to buy the art piece that was previously in St. George and keep it here in Bountiful. “Dad” the Dragon was on lease to the city from the artist.

The metal sculpture is made up of license plates and street signs and was created by artist Deveren Farley of Utah County. He named it “Dad” in memory of his father who passed away in 2021. The inspiration came because his father loved dragons.

“It’s the best item on the agenda of the night,” said City Manager Gary Hill at the July 11 City Council meeting. “We have a homeless dragon that has taken up temporary residency in Bountiful.”

He’s relaxed at Town Square and enjoyed by many, many people, he said. “We leased him for a year and the input from residents has been very, very positive. We can apply the lease amount to the total purchase price. The cost is $30,600 to adopt ‘Dad’ as a permanent resident of Bountiful. We can exercise our first right of refusal and keep ‘Dad’ here instead of letting him go to St. George where he was clearly not appreciated by being stuck in the middle of a roundabout.”

It’s all part of the public art fund, Hill said. “The Council adopted a policy a few years ago where we allocate 1% of all of our general fund capital projects toward public art. So if we spend a certain amount toward a street project or something out of the general fund we add an additional 1% into this fund. Our current balance is about $130,000 in the public art fund so it’s a great way to slowly add and has enabled us, particularly this year, to really get some neat things downtown.”

“I did have a conversation with the mayor of St. George and sometimes you don’t know what you have until it’s gone,” said Councilmember Kate Bradshaw. “That’s apparently what St. George has done. They found out they liked ‘Dad’ but only after he came north for the summer.”

Bradshaw said she’s heard he likes the cooler temperatures. “We’ve been fostering him as our foster pet dragon. We should make it permanent. With all due respect to our friends in St. George, we gave him a spot in our best park – not just in a roundabout.”