"AN iconic sculpture has been returned to Sneinton Market Place.
The totem pole piece was removed when works were carried out to revamp the area, but has now been reinstated.
The 4m high steel sculpture, made by craft agency Michael Johnson in 1996, was replaced with a noticeboard, and residents feared it would never come back.
It was put back in place on Wednesday, in its original setting on the corner of Lower Parliament Street and Gedling Street.
Yvonne Wright, a Sneinton resident who was a trader in the market in the 1970s, said it was good to see the sculpture had returned.
"I'm really pleased to hear it's back. It should be there, because it's got lots of symbols of the market.
"On the different points of the totem pole there are things like fruit and shoes, which represent a thriving market. Let's hope it can be that way again."
The totem pole has a pair of shoes at the top and a pallet at the base, on which a bowl of fish and a crab from the old fish market sit, as well as bunches of bananas to symbolise the banana warehouse.
Its removal provoked a petition to see it reinstated. The sculpture was located at the council's Eastcroft depot site by Sneinton resident Colin Haynes, who started a local petition to save it.
Ms Wright, who helped with the campaign, said: "Colin Haynes decided something had to be done, so he set up a petition for putting it back. At the same time, we raised the issue of the pole being taken down at the official opening of the square."
A Nottingham City Council spokesperson said: "The council took great care of the totem pole when it was removed for work to start at Sneinton Square, and was happy to incorporate it into the scheme when local traders said they would like it to go into the new square."
Wendy Honeyman-Smith, from Sneinton Community Traders, which runs the markets at Sneinton, said: "I think it's good that it's been put back, particularly if that's what the community want.
"I think it symbolises the market quite well, and it's good because it represents the area's newer heritage, being from the 90s."
SOURCE - Nottingham Post (
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