Too much grog for Gimli's viking?
Big Icelandic icon starting to lean
By: Bill Redekop
18/01/2010 1:00 AM |
Comments: 0
GIMLI -- The famous viking is turning into the Leaning Thor of Gimli.Town officials recently discovered that the giant viking statue, which symbolizes the area's Icelandic heritage, is listing.
You can't tell from the front, but if looked at from the back, it is definitely leaning to the left, or south.
Coun. Bill Barlow noticed it on a health walk. He thought at first it might just be his perception -- some say he leans left politically. But on subsequent walks, Barlow became convinced.
The tilt came as a surprise. The base seems to be level, it's just the guy standing on it that's wilting, as if he's had too much grog.
The statue was moved once in 1988 to make way for the Betel Personal Care Home. It stands on 2nd Avenue along Gimli's Harbourfront.
When word got out that the famous statue was listing, offers of help started to rain in. The statue was sculpted by Giorgio Barone in 1967. The sculptor's son, in the movie business, was in an airport on his way from Vancouver to Los Angeles when he got word about his dad's statue.
He immediately phoned the Gimli town office, saying he was prepared to spearhead a fundraising campaign to restore the stocky viking. The town declined the offer. Others phoned wanting to sculpt a new statue.
The town hired a structural engineer to take a look. The engineer wasn't too concerned about the leaning -- the statue isn't going to fall over and kill someone -- but is worried about the condition of the big guy's fibreglass exterior.
Paint is chipping and moisture is getting under the fibreglass, and Manitoba's freeze-thaw cycles will make it worse. If not patched up, the town might have to build a new statue in a few years at a cost of about $150,000.
The town is taking tenders on repairing the viking's exterior.
bill.redekop@freepress.mb.ca
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition January 18, 2010 A5