The repaired sculpture on Wi Neera Drive.
We're sure many residents, and visitors to Porirua, have enjoyed the Writer's Walk along our waterfront on Wi Neera Drive - it's a fantastic stroll on a good (and even not so good!) day, somewhere the Council has partnered with our arts community to show off the talent we have in our city.
We were saddened, then, to recently discover that the sculpture celebrating Alistair Te Ariki Campbell, unveiled almost four years ago to the day, was vandalised. A large piece of copper sheeting (shaped like a canoe) was removed, presumably to sell for scrap.
Yesterday (22 November), with the help of the original designer, we installed a lookalike canoe, using material that has a powder coating. This has minimal scrap value, but it's a shame we have to replace it with a non-copper material at all.
This theft was targeted and would have taken some effort to carry out. Please inform Council or police if you see this sort of action occurring around our city.
In happier news, a sculpture of writer Elizabeth Knox is in its final design phase and will be installed in 2024.
22 Nov 2023
