Explore the Renovation and restoration about the History of this artwork.
In the 1940s, the bronze statue was painted gold. This would be followed in 1951 by its first gilding with 50,000 square inches of 23.5-carat gold leaf, measuring 3.25 square inches per sheet. In 1966, the Government of Manitoba had an electric lamp installed atop the torch of the statue, which was first lit on 31 December 1966 to mark Canada's centennial celebrations in 1967.In 2002, the statue required repair because rust was accumulating on the inside of its hollow core and its iron supports were eroding away; Alpha Masonry, the general contractor for the restoration project, lowered the statue to the ground for a complete overhaul and regilding. On 9 February 2002, the Golden Boy returned to the ground in a custom-made aluminum cage after almost 83 years in place.In August 2002, the statue was regilded with a micro-thin coat of 23.75-karat gold leaf in a climate-controlled enclosure in full view of the public. During the restoration, the statue was also placed on public display at the Manitoba Museum and at the Forks National Historic Site. Prepared by Bristol Aerospace with a custom-manufactured paint from Germany, the statue was regilded using 4,000 sheets of extra-heavy gold leaf. A new steel support post was installed by ISIS Canada, accompanied by a structural health monitoring system—monitors and gauges for measuring vibrations and strain as well as for wind stress and temperature effect on the statue and support structure.The Golden Boy was returned to the Legislative Building and re-installed on the dome on 5 September 2002. It was rededicated by Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, during her 2002 Golden Jubilee tour of Canada the following month. The restoration cost a total of CA$1.1 million. The regilding cost $34,000, with the gold-leaf costing $5,600.The new gilding is expected to last about 25 to 30 years. Since its restoration, the Golden Boy's torch is no longer lit because its electrical cord had been one of the causes for the rust found in 2002. Instead, it is lit at night by floodlights.
Canada's centennial celebrations Queen Elizabeth II regilding gold leaf Germany CA$ dome Golden Jubilee tour of Canada Manitoba Museum gilding Bristol Aerospace Government of Manitoba lamp bronze Gold structural health monitoring gold Queen of Canada Canada floodlights carat iron Manitoba wind stress aluminum