Fredericton eager to save beloved beaver sculpture

If you grew up in Fredericton, you would know the sculpture of two beavers that adorned Officers' Square for over half a century.

And if you've missed seeing it for the past eight years since its removal by city staff, you wouldn't be alone.

"I love this sculpture, I miss this sculpture, I truly have and I think residents have, maybe without even knowing it," Mayor Kate Rogers said this week as she joked about playing on the sculpture as a child.

One of Fredericton's best-known public works of art is returning to the public eye after being kept in storage to prevent deterioration after cracks were discovered.

The sculpture of two beavers that sat at Officers' Square for decades will now be housed in the entryway to the Beaverbrook Art Gallery.

Originally a gift from the province to Lord Beaverbook in 1959, the sculpture was created by Acadian artist Claude Roussel. 

Max Aitken, also known as Lord Beaverbrook, grew up in Newcastle, now part of the city of Miramichi. He went on to become a businessman, politician and newspaper publisher, and served as a British cabinet minister during both world wars. He was also a philanthropist, funding the Fredericton art gallery now named after him.

While the beaver sculpture sat in Officers' Square for decades, the porous limestone it was made of began to deteriorate and crack in the elements.

The damage was discovered when construction work began on the revitalization of the square began in 2016. City staff  decided to have the sculpture put away in storage, where it's been ever since.

At a council meeting on Thursday, Angela Watson, a cultural development officer for the city, proposed the new location for the sculpture.  

"It's clear the beavers have deteriorated over the years," she said. A conservator consulted by the city suggested the cracks be filled to restore the sculpture, and that the work be placed indoors.

"Otherwise they will continue to deteriorate, the cracks will expand, and the sculptures will eventually split," Watson said.

The city began to consider where the sculpture should go, and Watson said the location needed to be publicly accessible and protected so the history of the piece could live on.

Beaverbrook Art Gallery was chosen as the new location.