Gimli’s iconic Viking statue gets a makeover

WINNIPEG — After two weeks of refurbishing, the 48-year-old Viking statue showed off its new look Friday morning.

After nearly half a century standing watch over the Gimli community on the shores of Lake Winnipeg, the statue was beginning to show its age. The municipality started work on the refurbishing project in 2006 dedicating a budget of $60,000 towards the makeover. In 2011 the province helped out by pitching in $15,000.

“The Viking Statue is extremely important to the community. As well as being enjoyed by Gimli residents, the statue draws tourists here every year. Getting your photo taken with the Viking is a tradition,” Randy Woroniuk, Mayor of Gimli said in a news release.

The R.M. of Gimli commissioned an Alberta firm, Dinosaur Valley Studios, to repair the tourist attraction. The president of the company, Frank Hadfield, is a former resident of Inwood, Manitoba a small community less than an hour from Gimil and is of Icelandic descent. It took the Dinosaur Valley Studios crew two weeks to clean, repair and coat the massive statue completing the work on Thursday.

The refurbished statue was unveiled on Friday morning at 11 a.m.

During the Icelandic Festival of Manitoba in 2014, the organization launched a fundraiser to create ‘Viking Park’ in honour of their 125th anniversary. The park will surround the massive Viking statue and include benches, gardens and an area for children to play.

The Viking statue was designed by Gissur Eliasson at the University of Manitoba at a cost of $15,000 and sculpted by Giorgio Barone. It stands 4.6 meters tall and is made completely of fiber glass.