Sculpture will finally take to skies

After delays, a cost blow out, safety concerns and outright anger, Neil Dawson’s Ascension sculpture will finally rise above Masterton.

Installation of the sculpture, which will be suspended by poles and cables above the roundabout by Waipoua Bridge at the northern end of the Wairarapa town, has begun.

Two thirds of the sculpture’s final $320,000 pricetag was funded by public money from two community trusts, and a fundraising group raised the rest. The original 2015 cost projection was $250,000.

The price caused anger among some in Masterton, who thought the trust money could have been spent on mental health, Life Flight and better services for senior citizens.

Dawson said public art always caused controversy. Despite it being a specialist area that involved meticulous design and planning, everyone had an opinion on it.

Dawson’s sculpture Chalice, in Christchurch, caused controversy for two years before it was installed, but now it was a valued part of the city, he said.

Masterton District Council supported the project, but two councillors were against it from the beginning.

Councillor Simon O’Donoghue declined to comment but councillor Brent Goodwin said he was still firmly against the project. The pricetag seemed extravagant and he believed it was in the wrong place.

Councillor Doug Bracewell had voiced safety concerns despite backing the project.

Project driver, the Aratoi Foundation, is proud the sculpture is being installed.

Foundation chairman Bob Francis rejected concerns that it would distract drivers.

‘‘We worked with NZTA and an independent engineering firm to judge the potential driving hazards and they were very careful in assessing it was safe.’’