ANOTHER sculpture is being commissioned as efforts continue to revitalise Port Glasgow.

Regeneration company Riverside Inverclyde and Inverclyde Council are inviting interest from sculptors for an artwork feature on the A8 near the entrance to town on the Greenock side. There is a budget of between £50,000 and £100,000 for the project which includes landscaping and lighting.

Four sculptures have been put up at the entrances to Inverclyde’s town centres in the past couple of years using Government grants. Riverside Inverclyde state: “Until recently the main coastal road linking Port Glasgow, Greenock and Gourock failed to identify the beginning and end of each settlement with the result that the built development appeared continuous and one township blended into the next and individual identities were lost.

“Town Centre Regeneration Fund works have been carried out to make the entrances to each town much more obvious and appealing. Greenock has a new landscaped public realm at both the Cathcart Street (eastern), entrance and at the West Blackhall Street western portal. Gourock has an upgraded ‘pocket park’ and sculpture at Kempock Street.

“The A8 entrance into Port Glasgow on the eastern side was very unprepossessing and this access to the town could have been easily missed by those unfamiliar with the local geography. This has now radically changed with the introduction of a backlit Port Glasgow sign, a modern landscaping scheme and an inspirational six-metre high ship’s hull sculpture, Endeavour, pictured, which stands on a metre-high granite plinth with associated feature lighting.”

The statement continues: “The western entrance to Port Glasgow has no such distinguishing features or sense of arrival. There is currently only a bland flat-topped roundabout, and plain grass verges with no landscaping. It has been agreed therefore that the western entrance should also be upgraded so that, both eastern and western entrances are provided with appropriate distinguishing features which leaves the visitor in no doubt that these areas mark the entrances to the town.”

Riverside Inverclyde stress that the work should represent the town’s history and present Port Glasgow in a positive, forward-looking light. Involvement of the community in the sculpture’s production is also required. A range of proposals will be brought forward for consideration.

A number of other proposals are being developed by Riverside Inverclyde to breathe new life into the town centre

Coverage Of Other Sculptures

Launch Of ‘Endeavour’ Sculpture

Photos of Ginger the Horse, Cathcart Street, Greenock

Photos of Egeria the Wood Nymph, West Blackhall Street, Greenock

Photos of Annie Kempock, Girl With A Suitcase, Gourock

Riverside Inverclyde