A little piece of magic returned to Warrnambool’s Fletcher Jones gardens on Sunday when the iconic Plus 8 Man was put back in the spotlight.
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Using 3D printing technology, a replica statue of the iconic figure has been created, and on Sunday night it was illuminated for the first time.
In 2006, the original figure was state heritage listed but in that same year he was damaged beyond repair.
The $35,000 recreation was a community project by the Fletcher Jones Stories group – the same group who secured funding for the silver ball restoration.
Group coordinator Julie Eagles said that each of the restored items in the gardens had been re-imagined, especially with the addition of lighting.
“We knew people before loved the cross on the silver ball. We can’t have that now and so we’ve tried to add light to what’s here,” Ms Eagles said.
“It’s really that strong community connection that exists is what we’re celebrating here, and what we’re continuing to celebrate and we celebrate it with the next generations as well.”
Ms Eagles said that new owner Dean Montgomery and manager Troy Kelly were restoring elements of the garden.
“Some things have been lost. What’s here they are bringing back to glory,” she said.
While there are some paid workers, the gardens were still looked after by a team of volunteers, she said.
Ms Eagles said that as a child, she would often come to the gardens when her cousins from Melbourne came to visit.
“We’d always end up at the Fletcher Jones Gardens, we lived not far away,” she said.
“My sister says it was like a magical wonderland. She used to imagine she was on Gilligan’s Island when she went into the little hut.
“For us as kids it was a really magical place and there was nothing else like it in Warrnambool.”
Ms Eagles has had a smaller version of the Plus 8 Man made into necklaces as a thank you souvenir for those who have helped with the project.
“That is the technology, it can be made any size or scale,” she aid.
The Plus 8 Man – which referred to the extra eight inches of fabric pleated into the trouser waist band during the 1940s and ’50s – appeared on storefronts and in advertising.
