GLASGOW City Council is looking to recruit specialists on the restoration of statues as part of its project to revamp George Square.
11 bronze statues – many of which are A-listed – are to be carefully removed from the stone plinths, protected, and transported to a workshop or secure storage facility.
Experts will ensure the local authority has the necessary knowledge for the dismantling, transportation, storage and conservation of the monuments. After the market engagement exercise, the council will then look to recruit the contractors to carry out the restoration work, which will mark a key stage in the wider regeneration of the Glasgow’s main civic space.
The council explained that Glasgow has a portfolio of outdoor sculptural bronze which matches or exceeds any city in the UK outside of London.
The notice for the statue experts has now been issued and is the next stage in the project’s progress, with the local authority saying that the ‘transformational’ plans are now approaching their final planning hurdle.
Work on the removal of the statues into storage is expected to begin in early 2025, with the conservation work beginning next spring and the statues being reinstalled in the refurbished square in 2027.
Given the highly specialised nature of bronze conservation, the experts being sought will help the council drill down into the required expertise of organisations bidding for the different areas of the work including their professional credentials, the suitability of storage space they are offering, and the type of community benefits that could be delivered.
Councillor Susan Aitken, leader of Glasgow City Council, said, “This is very niche, highly specialised, and painstaking work, so we need to ensure we’ve the right level of expertise on board from the get-go. To get that level of expertise, it’s clear we need specialists to help us find the right contractors for the job.
“These are A and B-listed monuments and for many people are a key part of the experience of visiting Glasgow’s main public space. It’s critical we get this right.
“But it’s genuinely exciting to be reaching the point where we’re now on our way to the quality civic space Glaswegians have long asked for.”
