People will have their first chance in almost 104 years to see the 2.74m 1.5-tonne statue of the North Otago trooper on the ground when he is removed from the top of the Boer War memorial in Oamaru later this month.
The monument will be moved south about 40m as part of a more than $3 million roadworks programme on State Highway 1.
The statue is modelled on a photograph of Trooper David Mickle Jack, who served in the Boer War with the "Rough Riders".
He has not been on the ground since the monument was completed in November 1904.
Fulton Hogan has begun work to relocate the monument in Thames St, and it is expected that the trooper will be lifted down from his 12.3m-high perch on June 17.
Dooleys Masonry of Oamaru have the contract, worth about $685,000, to move the monument.
Transit regional projects manager Simon Underwood said that once Trooper Jack is down, he will be cleaned and restored.
He would then go on temporary public display, although when that would be, and the venue, had yet to be decided.
"This will give people the first chance in a more than century to see the trooper up close. Once he goes back up on his pedestal, he won't be coming down again, at least in our lifetimes," he said.
Once the memorial is reassembled, Trooper Jack will stand in the lower section of Thames St.
He will also be turned around to face north, to provide a high public profile for future generations to appreciate.
Relocation of the monument is the first part of the Thames St safety improvements project, which ultimately will involve the conversion to co-ordinated traffic signal control of the monument's Severn-Coquet-Thames Sts intersection, together with those of Eden, Ribble, Usk and Ouse Sts.
Tenders for the balance of the construction work are now expected to be advertised next month, for completion this summer.
An aerial view of the project, which is in response to an average of 20 crashes per year along this section of Thames St, is on display in the foyer of the Waitaki District Council offices.
