This picture from last summer shows the south end of Ketchikan's downtown tunnel.

This picture from last summer shows the south end of Ketchikan’s downtown tunnel.

The iconic Thundering Wings totem won’t be back in front of Ketchikan’s downtown tunnel this season.

Master carver Nathan Jackson, who carved the original, is working on a replacement for the totem, which was deteriorating and had to be removed. His contract with the City of Ketchikan had called for the replacement to be done this spring.

In a memo included in this week’s Ketchikan City Council packet, Assistant City Manager David Martin writes that there have been some delays. The first was obtaining the right log for the totem, which depicts a bald eagle taking flight. Jackson also had some health problems that further delayed progress.

Martin recommends that the City Council agree to delay delivery of the totem until April of 2015.