Sculpture at entrance to Rotorua needed to be sanded and repainted after its initial paint peeled

Scaffolding has gone up around Rotorua's Hemo Gorge sculpture for painting work. Photo / Andrew Warner

Rotorua's Hemo Gorge sculpture is back under wraps as its peeling paint gets a freshen-up.

The sculpture - called Te Ahi Tupua - was installed about a year and a half ago but the scaffolding and wrapping were put back on last week.

There was an issue with the paint which is now peeling from the sculpture. Photo / Andrew Warner

There had been an issue with the paint used the first time around but ratepayers will not be paying anything as the sculpture's maker Kilwell undertook the work and cost to sand and repaint.

Kilwell chief executive officer Craig Wilson previously told the Rotorua Daily Post the paint's failure was a "kick in the guts after Covid" but said if it was left, it would only get worse.

He said work began on the sculpture again yesterday and was expected to take about two months in total.

"I'd rather not have been doing it at all but we're all set up, the scaffolding is not quite finished but just about."

Staff would also remove some decorative features of the sculpture that were repeatedly broken by vandals and people climbing on it.

"People just kept on damaging them so instead of continuously repairing and replacing them we will take them off at the lower levels."

Scaffolding has gone up around Rotorua's Hemo Gorge sculpture for painting work. Photo / Andrew Warner

The work had been delayed by about a week as nine staff members were away sick with Covid-19.

The sculpture sits in the middle of the Hemo Gorge roundabout at the southern entrance to the city. Originally meant to cost $500,000, it totalled $743,029.