Statue at Sainte-bibiane Church in Richmond returned to its former glory
Aceremony was held on Sunday morning to celebrate the restoration of the Sacred Heart statue in front of Sainte-bibiane Catholic Church in Richmond.
The statue had been vandalized and severely damaged in March of 2016.
The restoration of the historic bronze monument dating back to around 1920 was undertaken by local metal working expert Jean-marie Couture.
While Couture is not affiliated with the church, he learned of what had happened to the statue and thought to himself, “I can fix that; it would be a good challenge.”
Couture owns his own company renting out handmade installations like gazebos, fencing and other metal decorations for special events.
“I’ve always worked with metal,” Couture commented, explaining that he usually has a few months of down time during the winter.
He contacted Claude Morin and offered to take on the project.
“I tried to find pictures,” Couture said, but wasn’t able to find up-close detailed photos of the statue, which had major damage to the head and limbs.
“I used my hand as an example,” Couture said, to rebuild the left arm, of
which the five fingers had been recovered, but there was no wrist or forearm attached.
Couture said he spent around two months on the project, and with the addition of all the helpers who lent their expertise, the restoration took the equivalent of four months of work. He pointed out that in addition to the statue he also rebuilt the two side pillars as well.
Couture tried to contact the company that had made the original statue in 1920, but never received a reply.
Once he began, Couture realized the work would involve more than just soldering pieces back together. The vandals had taken souvenirs, so some parts of the monument needed to be replaced. He also needed to begin the re-build from the inside, creating a proper frame.
The head alone has between 50-60 different pieces in it, Couture said.
Couture enlisted the help of a friend of his, Gilles Letarte, a specialist in automotive body work. He helped Couture with the finishing touches of the statue.
“Nobody knows how they did it,” Couture said, regarding the destruction of the statue. It was extremely heavy and secured to a cement base, he said.
Couture didn’t realize when he took on the project how significant the restoration was to the Sainte-bibiane parish and the community.
“I didn’t do it because of religion; I did it because I thought it would be a good challenge for me,” Couture said.
Now that the monument is restored and back in its rightful place, Couture said he enjoyed the challenge and would be happy to take on other projects of that type during his winter downtime.