When Tantramar council passed a resolution in early April instructing staff not to remove Shep the Sandpiper from its perch in Dorchester Village Square, it came with a caveat, that town engineer Jon Eppell would inspect the bird and its installation, to make sure all was safe and sound.
“I’ve had a quick look out in the field and there’s no immediate safety concerns that I see,” says Eppell, noting that he is due to update council with more information on that matter shortly.
The reason for Eppell’s inspection was that the Shep installation was done without staff knowledge or participation, by a team of local volunteers who also commissioned the sculpture, paid for it, and transported it from artist Robin Hanson’s studio near Oromocto.
Erin the Heron, on the other hand, was part of a by-the-book public art commission. Unveiled in 2016, the bronze heron was part of Heron’s Watch, by artist Christian Toth, also featuring ducks Gracie Ann and Willy. The three bronze birds sit in a garden bed at the corner of Bridge Street and Weldon in downtown Sackville, but recently the bronze heron has been boarded up.
Heron’s Watch at Bridge and Weldon has been boarded up for a few weeks now after sustaining damage to its legs, possibly due to an excessive load placed on its back sometime this spring. Photo: Erica Butler
“It looks like a significant weight was placed on the back of the bird,” says Eppell. “One leg is bent and the other one has a crack in it, so it needs to be repaired. So temporarily, we’ve put hoarding around it to protect it from further damage.”
Close up of Erin the Heron’s legs, which on careful inspection, shows a small crack. Photo: Erica Butler
So did someone try to ride Erin the Heron? Eppell says he can’t say what actually happened to the bird to sustain the damage. “As far as I know, there’s no witness statements to my knowledge that state what actually happened,” says Eppell. “I can just say that it looks like it was overloaded in some way. And the only way I can see that might have happened is some sort of a load on its back.”
Eppell says town staff have made enquiries about potential repairs for the bronze statue. “We haven’t come up with a repair just yet,” says Eppell. “We’re still working on that.”