After 27 years, the Wayne Gretzky statue that resided outside of Edmonton’s Coliseum has returned to the studio where it was first cast.
Husband and wife team Don and Shirley Begg, who own Studio West Bronze Foundry and Art Gallery, recently helped to remove the nine-feet, two-inches, 950-pound bronze statue from its granite base in order to clean it in preparation for its move to downtown Edmonton.
In the 47 years that the Beggs have been casting bronzes, the Gretzky statue is one of the most popular they have ever done.
“We’ve received a lot of attention over it,” said Shirley Begg. “The original sculptor was John Weaver, who was the provincial sculptor at the time, and a very good friend of ours.
“We were honoured to do the casting.”
The statue will go through a cleaning at the studio until the Oilers are ready for it to receive it.
In the meantime, general maintenance such as adding new bolts (in order to accommodate its new base), a new template, a new coat of wax, and removing dirt will be performed.
“It seemed sensible for us to do the cleanup,” Begg explained. “The Oilers said we knew more about that statue than anyone else.
Begg said the Oilers also wanted to preserve the statue’s base and present it to the City of Edmonton as a gift.
“It’s a huge, solid granite base that they didn’t want damaged,” she said. “So we were the ones they wanted to remove the statue.”
For Don, the statue was something of a passion project, as he formerly lived in Edmonton, and the admiration the couple has for Gretzky went into the work they on the statue.
“As we got know Wayne, we really grew to admire him as a sportsman and the humanitarian work he does,” Begg said. “He visits children’s hospitals everywhere he goes, and he did that even before he was famous.”
The statue is expected to remain at the studio for a couple weeks, before moving to its new, permanent home at the Rogers Centre in Edmonton.
