“This is what they would have looked like when they first went up, and really, nobody alive has seen them in this condition before.”
The bronze statues have been fully cleaned and renovated (Image: X/@GlasgowCC)
George Square’s restored statues have finally been returned “to their rightful place” as the Glasgow city centre area’s huge £20million renovation nears completion.
‘Nobody alive” has seen the 11 bronze statues, some of which were returned to the Square this week, in such good condition, council leader Susan Aitken has said.
While Prince Albert, Queen Victoria and James Watt’s statues have been returned, the remainder of the statues are expected to be taken back to the Square “over the next couple of weeks”.
“Extensive” restoration work on the statues has seen their bronze cleaned, treated and restored, after the figures had slowly turned green from around a century of exposure to outside air and moisture.
But new footage shared by the council shows their dramatic transformation, with the statues now restored almost to their original condition.
“Nobody alive” has seen the statues with so much detail, Susan Aitken has said(Image: X/@GlasgowCC)
Glasgow City Council Leader Susan Aitken visited George Square earlier this week to see the first few of the statues returned.
She said in a video clip posted on the council’s social media: “I’m in George Square today to see the return of the statues, which will all be back in George Square over the next couple of weeks. Every single one of them will be restored to their rightful place after the restoration that they’ve been through.”
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She added: “It’s a major landmark in this huge investment and renewal of George Square to see the statues returned.
“The restoration work that has been done on them is absolutely incredible. This is what they would have looked like when they first went up, and really, nobody alive has seen them in this condition before.
“And the level of detail that probably we haven’t noticed or really been able to see for about a century is just absolutely incredible.”
All of the statues are to be returned in the coming weeks(Image: X/@GlasgowCC)
She added: “So we’ve got Victoria and Albert, James Watt is back on his plinth, and all of the others will be going back as well.”
The council leader explained that work on the Square has had to be put on hold briefly while the statues are returned.
She said: “It’s quite a delicate operation, and the rest of the work in the Square has to pause for a little bit to allow them to go back without being damaged.
“But it’s a really exciting moment and a big landmark towards our reopening of George Square.”
George Square is due to partially reopen in September, with the area expected to be fully back in use in October.
The George Square project is part of the wider £123million Avenues programme – the biggest transformation of Glasgow city centre since the 1970s. The Avenues are funded through the Glasgow City Region City Deal, with the required cash provided by the Scottish and UK Governments.