The Council can today (21 January) confirm that plans have been put in place to attempt to save one of each of the Gosney sculptural panels from Abbey Walk car park as part of the demolition contract.
This builds on the commitment to preserve a copy of each of the artworks made last year when 3D models of each of the sculptures were taken, guaranteeing digital preservation. These 3D images can be used to recreate the sculptures in the future and are incredibly detailed, even showing some of the chisel marks made by the artist.
As part of the tender to demolish the car park issued last year, the Council included that the successful company should make “reasonable efforts” to safely remove four unique relief panels.
Since the start of the year, GBM have been on site demolishing Abbey Walk car park and have been assessing how one of each of the artworks on the columns of the structure could potentially be saved.
GBM confirmed that the sculptures were, as Harold Gosney remembered last year, cast in situ with metal bars running through them, making them integral to the structure of the car park.
GBM provided an update to the Council yesterday, outlining the findings so far, and a method to remove a copy of each of the four panels.
Councillors have agreed to proceed with the works to attempt removal of identified panels.
Cllr Stewart Swinburn, Cabinet member for highways, said: “We have always said that we would look to save one of each of the sculptures, if we can.
“The sculptures are between one and two tonnes each, so manual removal is not an option – removal will have to be attempted mechanically, and the best chance doing this is to try removing them from the ground level.
“The contractors have advised that because of the way the sculptures are integral to structure of the car park, there is opportunity and means to remove the artwork in one piece, however, there are several risks, and they may be damaged in the process.
“The best case would be that one of each of the four designs survives intact, but we have to be realistic and know that there are no guarantees, there are all sorts of things that could go wrong during removal as the sculptures are cut from the structure and lifted out of place. There could be damage to the metal running through the structure, there could be faults or cracks in the concrete that can’t be seen.
“The only guarantee for preservation is the step we have already taken in doing the 3D scanning so that the artwork can be recreated.
“Finally, whilst there are no guarantees of safe removal, this is a good step forward, and reaffirms our previous commitment to trying to save the sculptures.”
Once the removal is attempted, should the sculptures survive intact, they will be put into storage until a decision is made about whether they could be displayed in the future. If they are damaged during removal, this could impact future use, but this won’t be known until removal is attempted.
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