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At Berkeley Marina’s Adventure Playground, adult staffers and a revolving door of local kids did more than just hammer together and paint a wooden doghouse, fighter plane and beagle last Saturday – they rebuilt a piece of Berkeley lore. 

For more than 20 years, wooden statues of Snoopy and the Red Baron sat atop twin posts in San Francisco Bay along Interstate 80 between University and Ashby avenues. 

“They were the coolest thing,” said Berkeley resident Ryan Troy. 

The comic strip icons first appeared in Berkeley in 1975. The original statues fell victim to the bay’s strong winds and rough tides, but the second rendition met a more mysterious end. A few days after Peanuts creator Charles Schultz died in February of 2000, the statues were inexplicably removed from their posts. 

The posts have been naked ever since, but Berkeley resident Joshua Polston is working to change that. 

Polston said he was recently reminiscing with a friend about old times in Berkeley, and they both wondered, “where’s Snoopy?” 

Three weeks ago, he approached Adventure Playground staff about his idea to include neighborhood children in rebuilding the statues. 

Denise Brown, director of the Adventure Playground, fully embraced the idea. “It’s wonderful to be able to do this with children and work with recycled wood,” she said. 

The new statues, which were completed after a hard day of work Saturday, resemble the previous ones, in which Snoopy is chasing his adversary, the Red Baron, in an aerial battle. 

On the left post will be Snoopy, wearing his pilot scarf and goggles, on top of his doghouse. On the right post will be the Red Baron’s World War I-era fighter plane, flying away from Snoopy. 

Polston conceded that the roughly two-and-a-half foot high doghouse and 3-foot long plane are a little smaller than the previous renditions, but said that they are built for “simplicity and durability.” 

With the statues completed, the question now is where will they ultimately reside. Everyone working on the statues wants them to go back onto the posts along the freeway. But that will not be an easy task. 

“The wrinkle is that to get a permit, we need permission from the landowner,” Polston explained. 

Since the statues last stood in the bay, ownership of the land has been transferred to Eastshore State Park. 

The park is still in its planning stages, but already a dispute with community activists about public art in the park has begun. Art work on the Albany Bulb, amid controversy, has been slated for removal by park planners. 

“Eastshore State Park is not in a position to grant approval because of the Albany Bulb,” said Paulson, who added that getting a permit for Snoopy and the Red Baron could take a couple of years. 

Often, according to Polston, such art is placed in the desired location without proper approval, but because he worked with the city-funded playground, Polston insists on going through official channels. 

Until a permit is granted, the statues will be mounted on posts adjacent to the Cal Sailing Club, of which Polston is a member. 

Everyone at the playground hopes that Snoopy’s new home will be temporary. 

“It’s has to go back. It’s part of Berkeley,” said Wally Trifiletti, who works in Berkeley. “Every day you were wondering if Snoopy was finally going to get him.”