Craig Medson’s iconic steel sculpture overlooking Kirra Beach will no longer be demolished this year, as Gold Coast Council has decided to save the ‘Rusty Chook’.
After discussions with the artist’s widow, and in spite of some hysterical reporting by Murdoch media, council decided unanimously late last year that while there are some safety and maintenance issues with the existing sculpture, these can be addressed.
Council resolved to ‘identify a suitably experienced steel restoration company to renew the Sea Eagle sculpture’, to ensure it can ‘remain suitable for display in the public realm without an exclusion zone for a minimum of ten years’. The sculpture has been in place above the beach since 1983.
Gold Coast Council also noted that ‘the intellectual property rights of the artist require any restoration to maintain the artistic integrity of the work’.
Funding will be re-allocated from other areas, and ‘philanthropic donations and assistance from the local community’ will also be sought to contribute to the restoration of the artwork.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
