Lion statue restored to a place of pride

One of the original lion sculptures from the Centre Street Bridge has returned to a “place of honour” in Rotary Park.

Coun. Druh Farrell said after years of discussions, the restored lion can now overlook its original location from a bluff in the park.

The tarp-covered statue, which was recently moved to its new home, is expected to be unveiled by the city within weeks.

“It’s a beautiful piece of our history ... and we treated these original lions with such disrespect,” she said. “So it’s been a struggle, but some things are worth fighting for.”

The original four concrete lions were designed by city stonemason James Thomson in 1916 and installed on the Centre Street Bridge in 1917. They were modelled after the bronze lions in London’s Trafalgar Square. Farrell said that during the restoration of the Centre Street Bridge, there was significant discussion by the city council at the time as to whether the lions should be restored and returned to the bridge, or have replicas made.

“They made the decision to replicate the lions and then locate the original lions in places of honour,” she said.

In 2001, council decided to restore one lion and place it at city hall, while the other three sculptures remained in a city storage yard.

“They deteriorated from there,” Farrell said. “And when we looked at the remaining lions for this public art program, there was really only one that was in good enough condition to restore.”

Josh Traptow, executive director of the Calgary Heritage Authority, said it was great to see the city restore the lion while keeping the statue “weathered” and demonstrating how it has changed over the past 100 years.