If you’ve visited downtown Calgary over the past week, you might have noticed a new statue outside one of the city’s most historic buildings, and it’s already drawing mixed reactions from locals.
The bronze statue of former British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill was created by Edmonton artist Danek Modzenski and was unveiled on June 6. It was mostly funded by the Sir Winston Churchill Society of Calgary, with some funding help from the Alberta government.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith was one of the many people in attendance at the unveiling, which fell on the 80th anniversary of D-Day.
The statue sits in front of the McDougall Centre, an old sandstone building that opened all the way back in 1908 as a centre for teacher training.
While news of the statue’s unveiling has been circulating for years, Calgarians still seemed surprised to see it on the street.
They unveiled the Winston Churchill statue recently, located at McDougall Centre. I’m not really in the loop as to why this statue was commissioned or placed here. #yyc #calgary #alberta #abpoli pic.twitter.com/atCWj2WfXn
— cm (@cmcalgary) June 10, 2024
Calgarians seem divided over the new statue, which is 1.5 times the size of Churchill himself.
A number of people in a Reddit post shared admiration for the British prime minister, with some acknowledging his shortcomings.
Others felt Churchill was an appropriate person to be honoured with a statue in the Canadian city.
Calgarians believe several other people deserved to be immortalized in statue form in Calgary, from Terry Fox to Bret Hart.
Some people pointed out it might be used for other less-than-honourable services.
Have you spotted Calgary’s new statue? What do you think of it? Let us know in the comments!