It was the culmination of a decade of dreams and three years of work.
On Saturday the new kārearea sculpture located at the upper entrance to Clyde was officially unveiled to more than 150 people.
Representatives of mana whenua and Ngāi Tahu performed karakia, waiata and a blessing before inviting those gathered to touch the sculpture.
The occasion was rounded off by speeches from Historic Clyde’s Project kārearea project manager Marnie Kelly, funding partners and the artist, renowned Glenorchy-based sculptor Dan Kelly.
The group raised $74,000 for the project — which included the installation and engineering work required to have it in such a public place — through grants, donations and work in kind.
Kelly said the kārearea took three months to create and turned out better than he expected.
"[It’s] just another great install. Normally, a lot of my work is on private land, so this big bird’s on public land and it’s so great that it can be shared by so many people and so many motorists."
When he met Historic Clyde members at the start of the project, he asked them how big the bird should be, Kelly said.
"Big as," was the response.
In reality that translated to 5m high and 5.5m wide.
Kelly finished with a message for the sculpture: "Be bold and brave, bush hawk. Be strong for all eternity".
Ms Kelly said seeing the project come to its completion and the crowd to celebrate it was an emotional moment for her.
"It just feels magnificent. I’m so proud to be part of a really neat team that we all had our input ... It’s pretty special."
The group was now looking towards its next project and ideas were already in the pipeline, Ms Kelly said.
