Where's the Stornoway sculpture now?
Where is the Sculpture?
The sculpture is due to be installed in the grounds of Stornoway Castle. For now it is being kept in the Stornoway Trust plant nursery for safekeeping while the works in the Lews Castle Grounds take place to avoid any damage by contractors working on Structures adjacent to the proposed installation site.
Timescales for installation
The capital works were due to end in October this year but due to the pandemic the work programme has now been extended until April 2021 which is when the sculpture will be installed adjacent to the A-listed crenelated seawall currently undergoing restoration along its 1.4km length.
It's part of a larger upgrade to Stornoway Castle and Park
The £5M Heritage Fund Parks for People project started in the Grounds in February 2019 and part of the project is to restore the core historic landscape and built features of the Lews Castle Grounds including the A-listed Seawall and Boatmans Tower and the B-listed Porters Lodge (near to the Main Entrance to the Grounds).
Also the 110m long Bastion Wall in front of the Lews Castle has been restored and the Matheson Bridge and Old Castle Bridge are being restored as well as the Private Gardens adjacent to the Castle (now a private hotel with attached Museum and Archive run by the Comhairle).
A new playpark and decking have been installed outside the Woodlands Centre & Café and interpretation panels are currently in development outlining the history of the Grounds which are to be installed around the 20ha site.
A number of key posts have been filled within the project including a Project Officer, a Gardens Squad (including Head Gardener, Gardener and 2 horticultural apprentices), with an Activities Coordinator and Stonemason still to be recruited, as well as volunteers.
The project end date is December 2022.