No sneaking peeks on statue of Flying Phil

I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking you’ll go take a sneak peek at the city’s newest piece of public art — the statue of Flying Phil Gaglardi — before the official unveiling Monday at St. Andrew’s on the Square.

Forget it. The 5 ft. five inch lifesize bronze won’t be erected until very shortly before the 2 p.m. ceremony, and will remain covered until about 2:10 p.m.. For the past several weeks, it’s been in storage in a crate up at the City’s Public Works compound.

I’ve seen the final product — lying down, mind you — and I like it very much. Over the past several months, I saw the sculpture in its early stages as well, while Terry Norlander was still working in styrofoam, and then plasticeen before it was completed and sent to a foundry in Vancouver for casting.

Terry, who also worked on the Overlanders statue, has come up with something special. He’s rendered our famous one-time highways minister and Kamloops mayor in a speaking pose. The face has largely been created from a big pile of photographs I had collected when writing Phil’s biography quite a few years ago. But he’s also taken just a snippet of artistic licence in capturing the amazing spirit of the man.

It took a long time to get it right. Each time Terry was ready with another version, we (members of the Friends of Phil Gaglardi Society, which raised the cost of the statue with private donations) would show up at his workshop and look intently at it from every angle. “I think his nose was a little sharper,” one of us would say, or “his hairline is just a little off.”

Among those who vetted the creation was Tom Gaglardi, Phil’s grandson. Tom has an amazing facial likeness to Phil when Phil was a young man, and Terry used him as a check on how close we were getting.

I think the proudest man at the ceremony Monday will be Bob Gaglardi, one of Phil and Jennie Gaglardi’s two sons. It will likely be an emotional moment when the veil is pulled from Phil’s likeness.

If you can’t make it to the unveiling, take a drive or a walk by St. Andrew’s on the Square later Monday for a look. I’m writing more on this for Saturday’s Daily News Armchair Mayor column.