News / SEE MONSTER
The great grandad fighting to save See Monster
A great grandad from Newport is rallying people from across the UK to save the Weston-Super-Mare See Monster.
See Monster, which has been on display since September 24, has cost the taxpayer over £10m and was three months late into being delivered. Yet it is being scrapped after just eight weeks.
Billy, a former steam train fireman who used to work on the line to Barry Island, was taken to see SeeMonster on one of ten community trips led by non-profit community enterprise STEAM Co. Shocked by the plans to dismantle the giant structure, he joined forces with STEAM Co. to try and save the installation.
is needed now More than ever
Billy Dare, with sister in Law Carol Mulcahy and Nick Corston in front of the SeeMonster – photo: STEAM Co.
Billy and STEAM Co. are now asking for funding to be extended for See Monster for a year and to tow it to Barry Island for retirement if Weston-Super-Mare no longer want to house it.
“It breaks my heart to think they’re going to cut See Monster up after spending so much money and only being open to the public for a few weeks,” said Billy.
“I’ll never forget the sight of all those steam locos that were sent to be cut up at the scrap yard at Barry Island. It’s happening all over again with See Monster which has been incredibly inspiring for all our kids.
“My great grandson and his friends loved it – what can we do to save it? Who knows maybe we could bring it up to Barry Island if Weston don’t want it and we could give See Monster a new home.”
See Monster was one of ten projects within the government’s £120m Unboxed2022 Festival of Creativity and Innovation, which set out to showcase the UK’s strengths in science, technology, engineering, art and maths.
Originally an exploration platform in the North Sea which was decommissioned after a life helping power the UK economy, the rig was repurposed as a work of art on the beach in Weston-Super-Mare to inspire and engage audiences to think about reuse, renewables and the great British weather.
Nick Corston stands in front of the See Monster projection on the Houses of Parliament – photo: STEAM Co.
Although it was initially set to cost around £10m, the final figure may be more, and will be revealed in a report in 2023, after MPs and members of the public slammed the project as an ‘irresponsible use of public money’.
As part of their petition, Billy and STEAM Co also projected See Monster onto the Houses of Parliament on Friday evening.
Main photo: STEAM Co.
Read next:
- Weston-Super-Mare welcome See Monster, the retired oil rig turned installation
- Winners and losers across Bristol in latest arts council funding
- Council spend more money on Bristol Beacon refurb than all transport schemes combined
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