New locations are being considered for Margaret Mahy's lion statue as part of the Civic Centre upgrade.
The Beacon photography department has transposed an image of the lion statue onto the lawn in front of Te Koputu just to see how it looks. Photo: Graphic by Troy Baker via LDR
The bronze statue's position has been a sore point with some Whakatāne residents since the relocation of the library to Esplanade Mall in 2012.
The lion, a character from Mahy's first published children's book, A Lion in the Meadow (1969), has been in Margaret Mahy Court since 2007.
Wellington artist Jonathan Campbell was commissioned by the Molly Morpeth Canaday Trust in recognition that Whakatāne was the birthplace of the much-loved New Zealand children's author.
The site was chosen for the statue, and the courtyard it lounges in, because at that time it was at the entrance to Whakatāne's library where many of her books are enjoyed by children. When the library was moved to its current location at Te Kōputu a te Whanga a Toi, some people felt the lion should have gone with it, while others argued that it should stay in the courtyard named after the author.
The recent consideration of the move was brought about by a letter to mayor Judy Turner by Julie Smith, a receptionist at Whakatāne Intermediate School, who was worried the statue would be forgotten about in the redevelopment and that its current location was not prominent enough.
"Margaret Mahy and her Lion in the Meadow should be celebrated in this town," she said. "He is currently even more forlorn behind metal gates while the building is under construction."
She said she had spoken to the librarians, who agreed with her that the lion should be outside the library where he could be seen and enjoyed by all, especially children.
Turner told the Beacon she had asked staff to look into the idea as it had been "out there in the ether" for some time and there were mixed views as to where the lion should be.
"This has come up on numerous occasions. I have some sympathy with Julie's idea. This is about children's books. Children are going to the library and [the lion] is a lovely thing for them to be able to touch and enjoy where they are getting books. That makes sense to me, as well."
She said one of the issues around moving the lion statue to the grassy area outside the library was that that area was not owned by the council but by a corporate body, so the council would need to seek permission to do that.
"The other thing is that there's some people who think that the lion should stay [where it is], because of the name of the court. I have talked to two of the council's senior managers and the two councillors who are on the steering committee for the Civic Centre upgrade project and asked them to see what they can do. We all accept it's important. Nobody's trying to get rid of it."
She said she thought the lion might need to be relocated anyway as part of the upgrade as there was going to be a doorway leading into the new ground level Council Chamber where it is.
She said if the corporate body that owned the lawn area weren't open to having it there, other options to look at would be the footpaths around the library or the space where it links into New World where there is some seating, or even inside the library.
She said she was thankful to Smith for raising the issue as with the events of the past two years such as Covid-19 and the Whakaari eruption it had "fallen off my radar".
Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air