Saga of the Wooden Statues Maintenance
OVERVIEW
The timber statues were installed as part of the 2008 (confirm) Streetscape plan.
Ownership and responsibility for the maintenance did not seem to be clearly established, with the GPA (then the GCDA - Geeveston Community Development Association) carrying out sporadic working bees to re-varnish them.
Many of the statues were beginning to show severe weather damage, and were in urgent need of attention.
So, in 2019, in the process of communications with HVC, to seek a definitive answer on ownership, it was revealed that they were the owners, and thus, were responsible for their maintenance.
The statues were created by Bernie Tarr, who provided HVC with a 2-yearly maintenance schedule, which was unearthed in the HVC archives during the communication process.
What follows below is a communications trail showing the HVC's maintenance activities to date.
Minutes October 2019 Item 4.6
are responsible for their upkeep. They were inspected by Miranda Wageman, Community
Development Officer, Arts and Culture. She has sourced and supplied a maintenance
recommendation, including materials, created by the sculptor, Bernie Tarr.
Statues have not been maintained for at least 10 years, despite recommendation for
annual maintenance. This will now be a major restoration project as all statues have cracks
and rot. Local, Terry Arnold, has been identified with expertise in this area, and the council
may use him.
HVC Email 1 October 2019
Your email was forwarded to me by Lisa Plohl whom I believe you have been talking to – about the maintenance of the wooden statues in Geeveston.
What happened in the past was that Council paid for the varnish and GPA undertook the work. Andrew Burgess would order in the suitable varnish.
We are more than happy to continue with this – so if you are happy to get the appropriate person to do this, we are happy to pay for the varnish. You can just send the invoice to us.
I also wanted to let you know that there was a plaque on the side of the Geeveston Post Office which has been permanently removed from there. It is now in a Council shed waiting for a new place to be displayed (in Geeveston).
HVC Email 2 October 2019
Just to recap what we discussed about the statues:
1. There has been no active maintenance for over 10 years after talking with a number of people around town. Some maintenance was undertaken about 2 years ago but that was done by volunteers and the job was bigger than anticipated.
2. We looked at the statues in the immediate town centre. They are all in bad condition – deep cracks in the wood (some so deep that whole pieces of wood are about to come off), missing noses, lips, toes. A lot of statues are rotting away. The stumps on which they stand have rot. Varnish is peeling off. We have a document by the artist in which he outlined how to maintain the statues and what products to use.
3. Council owns the statues and is responsible for the maintenance. Council does not want to take away the ownership the GPA feels towards the statues and so we hope to be able to work together on restoring the statues (with the financial help coming from Council).
4. An option mentioned was to use the GeCo Mens Shed – when we bumped into Michael he said that the woodworkers in the Mens Shed would have the expertise to restore the statues. Another option offered was to use the Work for the Dole people – but there was a lack of supervision available.
5. We talked with Alison in the Geeveston Post Office – she was unhappy with the lack of support from Council in maintaining the plaque on the wall outside – which is why she requested to have it removed. She did not want it back, even if it was restored so a new location will need to be found. Alison suggested inside as the plaque was not protected from the weather.
Reply from Marlowe 2 Oct 2019
Item 1 for statues. The was intended maintenance 2 years ago, with the varnished purchased from Andrew's hardware store. But it never touched the statues because the volunteer was wary when she saw the state they were in and realised the job was beyond her to do.
Terry Arnold is the expert at the Men's Shed who can do this. Alison spoke with him about the statues, and he confirmed he had the expertise. So Michael probably had Terry in mind for the job.
Reply from HVC 23 Oct 2019
Just wanted to give you an update on our meeting with the Infrastructure team.
Their plan is as follows:
1. They will review the assets register and make sure all the statues are on there
2. They will come to Geeveston to see their exact location – they will be in Geeveston today and time permitting will start this today
3. Contact a professional to assess the state of the statues and then follow this person’s recommendations for maintenance.
They also said they will develop an annual maintenance program based on the recommendations provided.
Follow-up email from HVC 30 April 2020
I wanted to give you an update on the Geeveston wooden statues. We found an artist who would be able to check the statues and restore them - unfortunately Covid-19 hit us right at that point and so the program is suspended for a little bit. I am chasing up the infrastructure department to see if anything can be done at all whilst we are all at home so as soon as I hear anything different I will let you know.
I was contacted by Dr Dick Geeves this morning too - I told him I had been in contact with you already - I am not sure about his connection with you.
He was also concerned about the plaque that was removed from the post office. This plaque is sitting in our community shed so if there was a new space where you would like to display it, please let me know. Dr Geeves had a few ideas so I just wanted to double check who the best contact person is for this - as this conversation started with you.
Update email from HVC: 7 July 2020
Further to my email back in May I would just like to touch base on the wooden statues in Geeveston again.
Now that we can move around a little easier, I am hoping we can get re-started on addressing the issues with the wooden statues and their maintenance.
I have cc'd Sam Warren in on this email (swarren@huonvalley.tas.gov.au) as he is part of the infrastructure and maintenance crew and it will be helpful to be able to liaise with him directly about a maintenance schedule for the statues. So I hope you are happy to start connecting with him. Sam has already been briefed on where we are at.
I hope that we can now properly get started on this after the unusual beginnings to this year!
Update from HVC (SW) 7 July 2020
Just a update at where I am with regards to the wood statues in Geeveston.
I have had a phone chat with Eddie Freeman who did the Campbelltown wood sculptures and he advised that he could possibly do repairs, but some of the statues would need to be removed and repaired at his workshop at Ross.
He said others could be repaired on site but there would the added cost of accommodation to stay In the area.
I have also had a phone chat with Roland Gabatel, whose work is the Huonville Esplanade statures and the Oyster Cove Hotel wood work.
He is a school teacher which puts his time frame into school holidays, but he lives in the Channel area.
I’m awaiting on a time frame for him to meet me and look at the Geeveston statues but at present he is away being school holidays.
I have also tried to contact Bernie Tarr who did the Geeveston statues, more as courtesy to him and his art work, as someone else could be doing repairs on them but I had no luck in contacting him.
Update email from HVC 18 January 2021
I followed up with Sam and he said that the wooden statues will be done to Bernie Tarr's schedule. He will be meeting with Bernie some time this week and let me know where it is at.
Update email from HVC 1 March 2021
I have some very uplifting news in that Sam (in charge of the maintenance) has met with Bernie Tarr. Bernie has provided a very thorough report on the current state of the statues and what they need to be restored/repaired. Bernie plans to repair all within 6-8 weeks.
I understood that a grandson of one of the models is coming over soon to help and repair as well.
I don't know the exact starting date for the repairs but I was keen to let you know that the statues are definitely not forgotten.
Update email from HVC 4 June 2021
Work is almost completed on the Blacksmith statue Geeveston.
This one needed the most attention so was done first.
There will be a spell for winter and repairs will start on remainder in spring.
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