Planned sculpture causes friction as price trebles

Jul 30 2007 by Liam Murphy, Liverpool Daily Post

Magic boat

A HUGE £300,000 sculpture designed as a welcoming gateway to Wirral has been criticised before it has even got off the drawing board.

The 30-metre high “Magic Boat” has trebled in price and grown from small project planned for a grass verge into a towering edifice which will dominate the local skyline.

Wirral council says the high- profile sculpture, set to be erected on the roundabout at the A41 approach from Chester, which will be clearly visible from near Junction Five of the M53, is expected to be in place early in 2008 as a welcome for Capital of Culture visitors.

But opinion is divided on the structure, with Mark Renn from designers Renn & Thacker, describing it as “an epic sculpture for an epic site”, while others say it is a waste of council resources.

Last night, one councillor said whether or not people like the project, he believes the council has got its priorities wrong.

Cllr Steve Niblock is a member of the A41 Corridor Strategy Improvement group which has overseen improvements to the busy road – one of the key routes in and out of the borough.

He said: “It was supposed to be something on the grass verge welcoming people into the borough – now we have this massive thing on the round- about. It will be interesting to see what the highways people say about it – it has got to be a distraction for drivers.

“The original money for improvements to the A41 was £1m, and just the increase in cost for this is a fifth of that. It has gone up from £100,000 to £300,000.

“Public art is icing on the cake – but, if the cake is not made properly, we should question the wisdom of something like this.”

He also said he was furious the images and plans for the sculpture were shown to outside groups such as developers Peel Holdings before local councillors and others involved in the improvements scheme.

He said: “We have been working on improving this road for residents and drivers for a number of years, and then they up and show it off to Peel Holdings first.”

The Magic Boat will be made with a galvanised steel frame, clad with marine plywood and plated with verdigrised copper.

The artwork was designed with guidance from a panel representing heritage, arts, businesses and community groups from across Wirral, and a website was also set up for people to post images they believe represent the area to help the designers.

Designer Mr Renn said: “We thought about Wirral’s ship-building heritage and about how to make an impact on such a vast location.”

Cllr Bob Moon, cabinet member for Culture, Tourism and Leisure said the sculpture would be an asset to be proud of.

“We are confident that the designs produced more than meet that brief. Even more importantly this strategic investment will add real value to the A41 Environmental Improvement Strategy that is successfully creating an attractive environment for existing and new businesses.”

liammurphy