The mayor’s plan to open Portage and Main is raising concerns about what will happen to an iconic piece of art in the underground concourse.
The art piece is a concrete installation that wraps around the entire core of the concourse. It was created by late Winnipeg artist Bruce Head and has a circumference of more than 400 feet – making it the largest concrete work by an artist in Canada.
The issue is that moving the art may be impossible, which has left Head’s family worried that they may never see it again if the concourse is closed.
“It was a huge labor of love for Bruce over the years. It’s an incredible contemporary artwork,” said Judy Waytiuk, the widow of Bruce Head.
“It’s in situ. I don’t see how it can be moved. It would break my heart if they closed the concourse and just mothballed this thing and it got buried.”
Waytiuk’s concerns come after Mayor Scott Gillingham recently announced that he is drafting a motion to reopen Portage and Main to pedestrians to avoid a $73 million repair bill.
Waytiuk recognizes that her heart break isn’t worth millions of dollars, but doesn’t see how the art can be saved.
“This is an important piece of Winnipeg’s artistic and cultural history,” she said.
The City of Winnipeg says it does not have anything to share at this time.