Springfield Doughnut, Outdoor sculpture in Springfield, New Zealand.
Springfield Doughnut is a concrete sculpture of a doughnut, 3.5 metres in diameter and weighing 6 tonnes, standing beside the road in Springfield, New Zealand. Its tan ring is topped with thick magenta icing that drips over the outer edge, and thin rod-shaped sprinkles in green, yellow, blue, pink, white, orange, red and purple sit on the icing. It rests on a grey concrete plinth with a white sign reading "Doughnut" and "SCULPTURE".
The first Springfield Doughnut, made of polystyrene coated in fibreglass, was presented to the town in July 2007 by 20th Century Fox to promote The Simpsons Movie; its resource consent allowed only six weeks on site. An arsonist burned it down in September 2009, the day of consent hearings on keeping it permanently. A concrete replacement was unveiled on 1 July 2012.
The name links to the American cartoon series featuring a fictional town called Springfield where doughnuts play a central role. Visitors often use the sculpture as a photo prop, placing their heads through the middle to picture themselves as part of the pastry.
The sculpture stands beside the road in Springfield and can be viewed at any time. Steps built into the replacement let visitors climb up and put their heads through the central hole for photos. The concrete surface is fireproof, and the paint has been renewed several times since 2020.
The original was made of polystyrene encased in fibreglass, not wood. After it was destroyed by fire in September 2009, locals painted a tractor tyre pink and tan, removed a bite from it and added sprinkles as a stand-in. The concrete replacement unveiled on 1 July 2012 is fireproof and has steps for photos.
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