Winnipeg's 'Golden Boy' lowered for repairs

More than 1,000 people stood like statues in the dead of winter, Saturday, to watch a beloved landmark in distress begin a long journey to recovery.

With Manitoba's transport minister pacing nervously below, the province's famous "Golden Boy" was plucked from the top of the legislature and slowly moved to the ground.

It's the first time the sculpture, which is being eaten away by rust, has been off its perch since it was installed in 1919. Engineers have been arguing for weeks over the best way to get him down.

Winnipeggers, young and old, gathered at the base of the legislature, some with cameras to capture Saturday's historic moment.

"Not one Manitoban would forgive me if anything ever happened to the Golden Boy," said one of the workers in charge of bringing the treasure safely down.

"Winnipeg would not be the same without the Golden Boy," agreed a woman.

Golden Boy has been deteriorating in the harsh Prairie climate, and is getting a makeover before the Queen comes to Winnipeg this fall.

It will be moved to the Manitoba Museum of Man and Nature for several months, where it will be cleaned, repaired and repainted with gold leaf in time for the royal visit.

Sculptor Georges Gardet created the statute in 1918 in France, and then sent it to Canada. But the ship carrying the Golden Boy was called into action in the First World War, and it criss-crossed the Atlantic several times before finally arriving safely in Canada.

The official title of the statue is "Eternal Youth," but virtually everyone in the city calls it the Golden Boy.

The bronze statue, which was covered with gold paint in the 1950s, is 5.25 metres tall and weighs 1,650 kilograms.

A sheaf of wheat is depicted in its left hand, symbolizing the prosperity of prairie agriculture. The right hand holds high a torch.

As the carefully crated statue was placed on the ground in front of the legislature, a cheer erupted from the crowd.

"I'm happy, I'm excited. I don't know what to say," said a mother, holding a toddler in her arms as she tried to get a look at the boy made of bronze.

"It's unbelievable," said another woman. "It's undescribable. I'm speechless."