Locals push for Opo replacement after attack

Opononi residents want the damaged 50-year-old statue removed somewhere safe and a new one made to replace it. Photo / Supplied

Plans to shift the famous Opo statue and a new sculpture to replace it are under way, as residents in Opononi try to stop the original from being vandalised.

A group from the small Northland town have banded together to get a new sculpture put up at the spot and move the original to a different location in a bid to protect it.

The statue, by sculptor Russell Clark, was erected about 50 years ago as a tribute to Opo, the dolphin who made headlines around the world in the summer of 1955 when he entertained beachgoers and played with children at Opononi Beach, Hokianga.

Resident Ian Leigh-Mackenzie said yesterday locals met last week to discuss what they could do to protect the sculpture of the boy riding Opo, which was decapitated last month.

"It's a direct result of that happening. It's just an initiative that I suppose I started, really," he said.

"As a boy, I played with Opo and it's a particularly nice statue ... It really needs to be preserved."

The group has met a member of the New Zealand Historic Places Trust and there are moves for an expert from Te Papa to examine the statue and advise on how it can be safely removed and taken to another location.

Mr Leigh-Mackenzie said the group would meet again this week to discuss various possibilities for the new sculpture, including what it would be made of.

"We formed a committee to investigate getting a new statue - whether it be bronze, stone, concrete, fibreglass or whatever," he said.

"There's a lot of enthusiasm to preserve our present one.

"Te Papa are sending up an expert in stone preservation to tell us what to do with it [and] how to remove it.

"It needs to go under cover inside as soon as possible. It's all looking good."

Since the statue was vandalised, a number of artists and sculptors from around the country had been in touch to offer their help in making a replica.

Early quotations show that a bronze statue would cost up to $36,700 - $16,000 for the mould and $20,700 to build the actual statue, Mr Leigh-Mackenzie said.

They would be looking to apply to the Lotteries Commission to help with costs.

He said it was not yet confirmed exactly where the original stone statue would be moved to, but it was most likely to be housed at the Hokianga Historical Society museum.