THUNDER BAY – A prominent Algoma Street sculpture damaged nearly five months ago is expected to be reinstalled in the next couple of weeks.
The bronze half-creature wild man public art piece was struck in a motor vehicle collision in February, toppling the nearly two-metre tall statue.
Kelly Robertson, the city’s general manager of community services, said the statue is expected to be put back in place the week of July 24 in advance of the Bay and Algoma Busker’s Festival running on July 29 and 30.
“As a bronze statue there’s a process that had to happen at the foundry that’s located in the Toronto area, the original place where the statue was produced,” Robertson said on Thursday.
The standing statue was one of two installed last year on the west side of Algoma Street between Bay Street and Cornwall Avenue at a cost of $117,000.
The repairs to the statue won’t cost the city, Robertson said.
“This is being covered through an insurance claim. The final costs haven’t been tallied up yet,” Robertson said.
The statues had previously been the subject of vandalism by being spray painted with red paint within a week of their original installation.
