FAO bear now has new lair to call home

The operation ran like a well-oiled machine, with one goal in mind: Get the bear.

Officials lobbied, wrangled, and cajoled. And with some help from bilingual submission forms and a little international support, they prevailed. Yesterday, Mayor Thomas M. Menino announced that the much-coveted FAO Schwarz teddy bear statue will make its home at the Floating Hospital for Children at Tufts-New England Medical Center.

"The kids are so thrilled, they feel like they've won the lottery," said Catherine Bromberg, spokeswoman for Floating Hospital. "The mayor's office called us, and there was absolute jubilation throughout the medical center."

In the coming days, after engineers finish preparing a concrete base, the 3-ton bronze bear will move from its current home at the corner of Boylston and Berkeley streets to the entrance of the Floating Hospital on Washington Street in Chinatown.

"We will plan a welcome party in the days ahead, when the young and young at heart can come and visit," Bromberg said. "The kids advocated so strongly for the bear to come. It's their party, and it's going to be their party, not only kids from the Floating Hospital, but kids in the community, too."

Bromberg said the hospital enlisted the help of children from the neighborhood and the Wang YMCA to send letters to the city, lobbying on behalf of the hospital. To help grease the wheels, it translated some 400 submission forms into Chinese.

The children also made a huge sign that read, "Floating Wants the Bear," featuring the tiny fingerprinted hands of the hospital's patients.

Hospital officials also asked former patients in other parts of the world to urge the city to put the bear at Floating. Submissions came from as far as Ethiopia and Pakistan.

When the city's search committee paid a visit, some of the hospital's patients made signs featuring blown-up photos of them standing with the bear.

"It was really the kids who took this and ran with it," Bromberg said. "The site visit was marvelous. The kids made sure their opinion of the Floating as the best location was heard."

Menino said Floating won because of its location in the heart of Chinatown and because of the accessibility that Washington Street offers.

When FAO Schwarz filed for bankruptcy last year, the toy store donated the bear to the children of Boston. In July, the mayor asked the children to name the best home for the bear.

In the course of a month, more than 7,000 submissions and suggestions flooded City Hall. They ranged from the Children's Museum to the moon.

After a month of competition, three finalists emerged: Floating Hospital, the Children's Hospital, and the Franklin Park Zoo. Floating prevailed, but not without a fight.

Veterinarians from the Franklin Park Zoo paid the Back Bay bear a visit, applying their stethoscopes in an examination, just to ensure it was healthy for a move to their part of the city. The zoo's mascot, Prince Franklin D. Saur, campaigned, as well.

"We're disappointed that we didn't get the bear, but we're fine with it," said Melissa Grossenbacher, spokeswoman for the Franklin Park Zoo. "It's a great place. If we had to lose, we're fine losing to them."

Though thrilled that the children's campaign for the Floating Hospital prevailed, Bromberg said the city is the real winner.

"If desire and enthusiasm had weight in the decision-making, there would have been no contest," she said. "All of the parties were excellent locations. I think the kids of the city of Boston are going to win with this location."