New look, new location proposed for Prince George Terry Fox statue

The iconic statue of Terry Fox located in Community Foundation Park downtown may receive a facelift and a new location.

City council is being asked to approve spending $24,250 from the city’s Festival/Discovery Place Trust Fund to recast the statue in bronze, before it is relocated in front of the new aquatic centre being built downtown.

The local Terry Fox Run Committee and City of Prince George commissioned the original, fibreglass statue from B.C. artist Nathan Scott in 2005. That original statue was located at ground level and was vandalized, prompting a new fiberglass statue to be cast and placed on a raised plinth in the park, a report going to city council says.

“In October of 2021, Council approved the relocation of the Terry Fox statue to the new downtown pool. Staff inspected the statue and discovered that the fiberglass artwork was showing its age. Spider cracks have appeared and small chucks of the right leg and shoe are damaged/missing,” city manager Walter Babicz wrote in his report to city council. “Staff contacted the original artist, Nathan Scott, about repair and refurbishment options. He indicated that the statue ‘could be ground out and reworked, but its strength will never be the same. The fiberglass cloth used in the internal part of the casting has been compromised and is most likely ripped and with now-open cracks, water can get in there and the effects of freeze-thaw have really compromised the structural integrity of the fiberglass and the steel embedded and encased in the layers of fiberglass used in the construction.’”

Scott recommended casting a new version of the statue in bronze. A bronze statue would be more durable and could potentially be placed at ground level, Babicz said, allowing people to take photos with it.

The city has $35,373 remaining in the fund, which was created in 1986 as a legacy from hosting the e BC Festival of the Arts. Money in the fund is earmarked for public art projects downtown.

City council is expected to decide on the matter during their regular meeting on Monday evening.