The owners of Lagoon really, really wanted the concrete lions that once guarded the entrances to the state Capitol.

Enough that they spent nearly $16,000 on three of the four statues Thursday and attempted to outbid an unidentified Salt Lake resident who spent $8,100 for the fourth.

So what are they going to do with the costly critters?

Don't know, said Dick Andrew, vice president of marketing for the Farmington amusement park.

"We're confident we'll find a good use for them. But it is not decided really what it will be," Andrew said. "They could end up in Pioneer Village or they could end up part of the theming of a new ride."

Park owners joined the eBay auction that began Sept. 2 for the surplus state property, Andrew said, because "it just sounded like something that is intriguing."

The price tag for the well-worn statues is just the beginning. Buyers have to pay to transport their weighty purchases from the state surplus yard in Draper. Then there's the restoration work.

"I've seen the pictures," Andrew said. "These lions have seen better days, so apparently there's quite an extensive restoration process that will have to be gone through."

The 94-year-old beasts are so battered that David Hart, the head of the Capitol Preservation Board, bet that the state wouldn't get more than maybe a few hundred dollars from the sale.

"I won the bet," said Margaret Chambers, director of the state fleet and surplus property division. "I thought they had a huge historic value."

Hart was stunned at the results of the auction. "Wow, was she ever right," he said. The only interest in the lions had been from the Bountiful Lions Club, he said.

But the club wanted the statues donated. The Capitol Preservation Board, though, decided to see if there was money to be made.

The proceeds from the sale will be used to maintain the renovated Capitol, Hart said, including the building's new sentries, four marble lions now stationed at the east and west entrances.

The state often turns to eBay to get the best price for surplus goods, Chambers said, noting that its compressed natural gas vehicles are top sellers, even though they don't go on the auction block until they reach 105,000 miles.

Given the success of the sale, this likely won't be the end of treasures from the Capitol's past that surface on eBay.

"I think we've hit on something new," Hart said.

Next up? Possibly the rug in the ceremonial Gold Room replaced during the renovation. No word yet on whether Lagoon is looking for floor coverings.

e-mail: lisa@desnews.com