The penis has been saved
Historic Carleton College sidewalk design gets a second life in Bridge Square
Back in the summer of 2008, Carleton College installed cement sidewalk pavers at the corner of 2nd and Division. The unintended phallus design soon became controversial.
Plans to remove it were met with a student-led ‘Save the Penis’ campaign, organized via a Facebook group of the same name. The introduction to the Facebook Group included the above photos and this text:
This summer, Carleton installed a new cement sidewalk to make the campus “more welcoming” to the Northfield community. Without a doubt, this is a penis. Creamy tan, complete with pubic bushes and a urethra….
That text also appeared in a post from October 2008 on a student blog called The Carl where the sidewalk was featured in a piece titled “Art on Campus: Analysis, Phalluses…” and thusly described:
“Cock No. 4,” like the other ‘Cocks’ in its series, draws attention to the patriarchal structures of power still existent in society, this exposition of patriarchy being, one hypothesizes, a necessary step in its ultimate disassembling. The cement penis outline, a part of the very ground the viewer walks on, urges a recognition of the cultural ubiquity of patriarchal structures and subsequent confrontation with them.
Carleton evidently wasn’t pleased.
Left: Cock No. 4 after being surgically altered by TPTB at Carleton.
Right: Campus sidewalk artists at work on the revised design.
So yes, the students’ Save the Penis campaign failed. But nearly two decades later, local preservationists appear ready to finish what Carleton students started.
Who is Saving the Penis now?
After its final meeting on November 10, 2025, the Northfield Arts and Culture Commission convened informally with representatives from the Northfield History Center, Northfield Arts Guild, and Friends of Downtown Northfield.
Given that the construction of the Bridge Square Improvement project had been halted by the City Council earlier in 2025, attendees pledged to meet again in 2026 to discuss installing a phallus paver on a section of Bridge Square, replicating the original paver design.
The group met last week and, in a climactic moment, approved pooling their funds to pay for the installation. The vote was unanimous and, members noted, surprisingly quick. Additional funding may be available through a long-discussed federal package, though local officials cautioned that the release of details remains murky.
“We felt it was important to save a piece of Northfield history and have something so seminal planted outside our door,” said Seymour Johnson, Northfield History Center board member.
Arts Guild board member Peter Gozinya observed, “It’s hard to understand why Carleton gave up such an important architectural endowment. Why they pulled out is beyond me.”
“There was stiff opposition to the project from some members of the public for a while,” added Ava Gina, chair of the Northfield Arts and Culture Commission. “We went to great lengths to make our case, despite mounting pressure from opponents who felt shafted.”
A work crew led by City Parks Supervisor Jack Mehoff began boring into Bridge Square yesterday morning. Mehoff said, “We expect to finish by the end of the month, assuming no unexpected discharge from the nearby water main.”
A ribbon-cutting ceremony is being planned.
See the latest Northfield.org posts in the archive.
“Seymour Johnson”. Heh heh
LOL. That’s all !