New look Horizon sculpture returns to Beresford Foreshore, 12 months since original was destroyed

The popular Horizon sculpture made its long-awaited return to Beresford Foreshore this week, almost a year since the original exploded. First installed in 2019, Horizon by award-winning artist Lucy Humphrey grew to be a drawcard for victors and locals in Geraldton before it was damaged in July last year and subsequently exploded in hot weather during December. After the devastating structural failure, the City of Greater Geraldton council voted to replace the popular artwork and install a CCTV camera to monitor the area. After almost 12 months, the replacement Horizon sculpture was installed on Wednesday while works on the CCTV cameras were completed in November. It arrived after being manufactured in Thailand, just in time to provide an early Christmas present to the Geraldton community. City of Greater Geraldton Mayor Shane Van Styn said the replacement was slightly larger then the original and had been strengthened. “We were in constant contact with the artists and our insurance to ensure that we could redeliver this ball, which has been an absolutely popular tourist icon here in Geraldton,” he said. “The same artist was engaged to construct the ball and it has been made to a similar spec yet stronger. It is a brand new ball, it’s not a repair, but has been made to withstand some of the vandalism and extreme heat that we get a bit like today.” Mr Van Styn said the City injected a “small amount” of extra money on top of the $110,000 insurance bill. He also highlighted the CCTV cameras, which will provide coverage of the Horizon sculpture and the area around it. A spate of alleged indecent attacks along the foreshore happened in June and July. The predator is yet to be found and police say the case has gone cold. “We know the ball attracts a lot of tourists and residents, I just think that’s an extra layer of protection for everyone,” he said. “These improvements make it a lot stronger we just hope that people respect what is a beautiful thing for our city.”