Perth Voice Interactive

The original stonework of the Alexander Forrest statue has been revealed after Perth city council workers removed a lime wash coating on the base.

The statue by Pietro Giacomo Porcelli was erected in 1903 to pay tribute to the famed surveyor (a brother of Sir John Forrest), who died in 1901.

Situated at the busy corner of Barrack Street and St Georges Terrace, Perth city council CEO Gary Stevenson says it’s subject to  damage from car fumes and general wear and tear.

For a few years it’s been clad in a thick cream-coloured lime wash to stabilise its surface, which workers pulled off over the weekend revealing original engravings from PG Porcelli, along with a few older blemishes that’ll need to be brushed up.

The PCC’s now consulting with the WA heritage council to consider options for restoration.

The statue was erected by Forrest’s friends, celebrating him at the “first explorer of the Kimberley District,” second-in-command of the expedition from Perth to Adelaide, and mayor of the city for six years.

by DAVID BELL