Refurbished statues return to George Square as £20m overhaul nears completion

George Square is undergoing a phased reopening as part of its £20m revamp, with some statues returned to their plinths in almost the exact condition in which they were originally made.

So far, three of the 11 refurbished bronze statues removed during the early phase have made their way back to the square.

The area has been under development since May last year as part of a £20.4m overhaul to add more green spaces, seating and pedestrian areas.

The first phase of the reopening saw the north carriageway return to use last month.

The statues have been restored almost to their original glory STV News

A section of the square is set to reopen to the public in early September, while the full revamp has been pushed back to October due to “complexities” in construction.

Roads will go traffic-free to welcome families back to the civic space on the first weekend of September, when fences come down at the Queen Street end.

Council leader Susan Aitken has said the square will be just as Glaswegians remember it, but “better looked after and more handsome”.

“We’re opening it in two phases,” she told STV News.

“There’s been some slight delay, but not very much. We always said it would open in autumn this year, and that’s exactly what’s happening. But we will partially open.”

She said streets will be closed to allow street play for families in the reopened west end of the square over the first weekend in September.

Work will be then be paused within the square for a couple of weeks to put the statues back in place.

“It’s a very delicate operation,” Ms Aitken said.

“The restoration company said they would need the space to themselves, essentially, without all the other work going on around it.

Some statues have returned home to George Square STV News

“So that’s given a slight delay, and there are just a couple of other things where you find stuff underground that’s not on any map because it’s been there since the Victorian era.

“The entire square will be open by the end of October, and the Lord Provost will host a big civic reception. Probably before then, it will be physically open for people to enter.”

Conservation experts at Rupert Harris Conservation have been working to restore the statues that have become synonymous with the popular attraction.

“We started with the removal of all the black paint, and underneath that, there was a lot of corrosion,” Rupert Harris said.

“We took that off, with the agreement of Historic Scotland and the council here. And then we re-chemically patinated them, that’s a way of the chemicals darkening the colour again.

“We’ve recreated basically the same colour that they were originally. Once we’ve done that, we finish them with wax, and that’s how they are now.

“So there’s no paint on them at all. They’re pretty much in the condition they were when they were first made. The difference being, obviously, the detail you can see much more detail now, because the paint was disguising a lot of the fine sculptural detail.

“So they are now back as much as in the original as we can make them.”

In addition to the statues being returned to their plinths, some will have QR codes beside them to help visitors understand their history, including links to slavery.

Glasgow City Council previously launched a Legacy of Slavery and Empire Trail in the city centre, which reveals how wealth generated through slavery helped shape Glasgow’s growth and institutions.

The first phase of the Legacy of Slavery and Colonialism Trail takes in sites including the City Chambers, Merchant City, Trongate and the Gallery of Modern Art.

“Some of the George Square statues are controversial,” Ms Aitken added. “There are a couple of them who are military men who were involved in putting down slave rebellions.

“What that means, actually, is that they massacred enslaved people, and we need to be honest about that. We need to be contextualising our history and showing all sides of it.

A total of 11 statues are due to return to the square STV News

“We can’t turn our face away from the fact that Glasgow is steeped in the blood of enslaved people over many centuries.”

As far as what Glaswegians can expect from the transformation, think George Square but better.

The council leader added: “There’s always going to be somebody, somewhere who has a complaint, but you can already see what it’s going to look like.

“A lovely new surface stretches out into the carriageways at the north and south, George Street and the South carriageway of George Square. People can already see the difference and how much better it looks from what was there before. There are all these new trees that are going in.

“There’s going to be new green space, particularly up in front of the cenotaph. There’s going to be a new raised area of green space there. So, more places for people to sit and to spend time and of course, these beautifully restored statues.”