Gympie council defends removal of Civic Centre statue as backlash grows

Backlash is growing against the removal of a wooden statue from Gympie’s Civic Centre but the council has defended throwing it out as the only option on the table.

Gympie Regional Council acting CEO David Lewis said a popular wooden statue of a miner had become a "bio-hazard" as a result of mould.

As backlash builds, Acting Gympie Regional Council CEO David Lewis has defended the removal of a wooden statue saying the artwork was a “bio-hazard”.

Herman Hussman’s artwork on a miner leaning on a shovel was a fixture at the Civic Centre’s foyer for years.

The statue vanished in early December 2022.

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Unconfirmed reports claim it was last seen at the Bonnick Rd recycling centre minus its feet and someone had “attempted to remove the head”.

News of its removal sparked an online backlash, with residents asking why more was not done to preserve it.

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A bad case of mould is behind the disappearance of a statue which once adorned the Gympie Civic Centre’s foyer.

Elaine and Jim Thomson said, on the council’s page: “The council and the Civic Centre management should be ashamed that the miner statue was allowed to deteriorate.”

Acting CEO David Lewis said the damage sustained by the statue as a result of severe weather events made its removal the only option.

“Given the bio hazard the statue presented council was obliged to remove it,” Mr Lewis said.

“It would not be viable for it be donated.

“The statue was mould affected and deemed beyond repair.

The Lady Mary statue has been removed from Mary St for repairs, but unlike the statue which adorned the Civic Centre, Mary will be making a comeback in a fortnight.

“It’s important to note the vast majority of the Civic Centre’s fixtures and fittings have been removed on the back of the dense mould issue on site.”

Asked if the council regretted the statue’s removal and subsequent disappearance, Mr Lewis said “no”.

It is one of two local statue’s to disappear.

Mary St’s Lady Mary is taking a break, but unlike the miner its return is on the cards.

A post on the council’s Facebook page said it “is off to the shoe shop while we replace some of her footings”.

“She will be back in two weeks,” the council said.

Mr Lewis said the work would ensure the Lady Mary statute would remain stable.