Flintabbatey Flonatin has stood tall for 55 years, but he’s starting to show his age.
Now the Flin Flon and District Chamber of Commerce is discussing repairs to the landmark statue.
Discussions on the state of the statue took place during the latest meeting of the Flin Flon and District Chamber of Commerce, held Tuesday, March 28.
“I’ve had several conversations with different committees and they say the same thing – Flinty needs to be painted,” said Karen MacKinnon, a City of Flin Flon representative with the chamber.
Suggested work on the statue includes structural repairs and a new coat of graffiti-proof paint. The work would likely mean a temporary removal of Flinty from the campground site where he is perched.
The fibreglass statue of literary character Josiah Flintabbatey Flonatin has been repaired at least twice since it was unveiled in 1962, but no work has been done in more than 15 years.
Normal wear and tear and instances of vandalism have left Flinty in need of a fix. In the past, tourists and locals have climbed on the statue, causing the structure to weaken.
“People climb up there and lean on him. He’s only fiberglass,” said chamber member Lois (Bunny) Burke.
More damage was done to the statue at the same time the site was featured as a local PokeStop in the cellphone-based video game Pokemon Go.
“Someone threw rocks at him, he got damaged,” said MacKinnon.
While no estimate has been given, costs to repair the statue have been pegged in the thousands of dollars.
Chamber members said the costs would likely exceed the price tag of the last set of repairs.
“It cost seven or eight thousand dollars then, even with donated labour,” said Burke.
Funding for the upgrades could prove to be a hurdle. The statue is the responsibility of the chamber, but there are no funds in the organization’s budget for the fixes this years.
A possible fundraiser or crowdfunding campaign was suggested to help get the project going. Chamber members did not reach a decision on the project or how it could be funded.
While some chamber members hoped the project could be done in time for this summer’s Homecoming, it appears unlikely fixes to the site will be finished by then. In addition to the budgetary constraints, a tentative timetable of three months was given for the repair work, leaving little time for completion before the event in late June and early July.
