Cairns Captain Cook statue: Future of iconic structure in doubt
A major win for the Cairns University Hospital raises a sticky question: what will become of the giant Captain Cook? HAVE YOUR SAY HERE
Cairns
Don't miss out on the headlines from Cairns. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A MAJOR healthcare win for the Cairns region has raised a sticky question: What to do with the humungous Captain Cook statue looming over the highway.
The statue is smack in front of the new James Cook University development on land bordered by Sheridan, Charles, Grove and Digger streets.
First some background is required.
Builder John O’Grady attributed the work to Kiwi artist Chris Pigeon, who built it in 1972 to accompany the Captain Cook Motel.
Sources cite a local legend that Cairns City Council mistakenly approved the dimensions of the statue as imperial measurements rather than metric.
Hence the outsized tribute to the British cartographer.
The owner of Grove Street’s Cock and Bull pub, Graham Johnson, became the statue’s guardian when he bought the land that has now been secured for the University Hospital expansion.
He declined to comment on what should happen to his “garden gnome”, and said it was a matter for the new custodians.
“Whatever happens is up to them,” he said.
At the height of the pandemic and amid Black Lives Matter protests in the US last year, a petition circulated campaigning for the statue to be torn down. The petition has more than 19,000 signatures. A counter petition to keep the statue has garnered 5000 signatures.
The question remains: what to do with the iconic and divisive structure.
The option exists, of course, to keep it in place and lend it renewed relevance given that JCU has partnered with the Cairns and Hinterland Health Service to transition the hospital to a university hospital status.
The new custodians of the land could tear it down to be lost forever, or sell it to the highest bidder for a future in a private collection, or perhaps it could become the marker of a tourist drive.
Quaid Auctioneers director Stacey Quaid said the figure would attract buyers.
“It would be a spectacular piece to sell,” he sad.
“It is significant piece, like the Big Prawn or Big Pineapple; someone would love it.
“Often times these pieces are used to attract business, signify an attraction or just used for attention.”
Originally published as Cairns Captain Cook statue: Future of iconic structure in doubt
Cars collide head-on at busy south Cairns intersection
Emergency services have been called to another crash, this time involving two vehicles that collided head-on at a busy Edmonton intersection, following a car hitting a teenager on English Street.
A family ‘shattered’: Woman fights for justice for partner killed in horror fall
The partner of an apprentice who fatally fell 8m while working on air-conditioning at a worksite has opened up about the profound emotional, mental, and physical toll she has endured.