Designer of Bangor's famous Paul Bunyan statue dies

May 16—The artist known for creating one of Bangor's most famous landmarks has died.

J. Normand Martin died on Friday at the age of 95, NewsCenter Maine reported.

He was raised in Madawaska and was the 11th child out of 15 children born to Denis and Alphonsine (Raymond) Martin, NewsCenter Maine reported.

Martin — who was a budding artist working for a local advertising agency in Bangor — was paid $137 to design and create a 22-inch model of the statue for the city's 125th anniversary in 1959.

The city enlisted a New York-based company, Messmoor & Damon, to construct the statue from Martin's model and it was delivered to Bangor in early that year. The statue was deliberately set back from the road to allow tourists and others to take photographs without wading into the Main Street traffic.

In February 2015, Martin proposed the addition of Babe the Blue Ox but the city's cultural commission denied his request for funding to build the model a couple months later.

Martin made smaller, yet significant, contributions to the city following his design of the Paul Bunyan statue. He went on to establish a successful fundraiser for the Bangor Lion's Club and led the Bangor Sidewalk Arts Festival, NewsCenter Maine reported.