Schoolkids, tourists and Rakaia locals gathered to watch Rakaia’s restored giant salmon be reinstated at her spot alongside State Highway 1 this week.

The iconic fish has been away for six weeks, benefiting from an allover scrub, sand and fibreglass repair, and intricately-detailed new full-body paint work. Much of the painting has been by hand, with new pearlescent scales now catching the sunlight at different angles.

Mayor Liz McMillan said the salmon’s new sparkle was beautiful and the artist responsible, Phil Price, agreed.

Phil was just 25 when he created the sculpture for the Rakaia Lions Club back in 1990. He repainted it in 2006 and says the new artwork will see it through another 30 years.

Mayor Liz said the project had gained a lot of attention around the country, as the salmon was a well-photographed attraction that had put Rakaia, and Mid Canterbury, on the map.

“There were many who wanted to be a part of this project, and I am grateful to the local businesses who gave their time and expertise. They are part of the history of this special fish.”

One of the engineers working on site has a family connection to the sculpture too. Sam Cullimore, of Cullimore Engineering, is the grandson of former deputy mayor John Leadley, who attended the original salmon unveiling in 1990. He took young Sam along to see the fish when it was repainted in 2006.

For this restoration, Sam was in charge of attaching the lifting rod, cutting and re-attaching the salmon to its metal pole. Some of that work was carried out very carefully from a cherrypicker at full stretch.

He said it had been a unique project and people might notice the sculpture was sitting about 50cm higher, due to an extension of the base pole to keep the tail out of most people's reach.

Phil said the pearlescent paint was a special feature of the salmon and the artwork had a lot more depth than the 2006 refresh.

The salmon was craned out of his Christchurch workshop early on Saturday morning and transported by Tarbotton Land & Civil to the yard of Rakaia Engineering Limited, where it sat until Monday morning before it was reinstalled.

Many of the contractors involved have heavily discounted their services, and Council would like to thank: Treetech, EA Networks, Cullimore Engineering, Lysaght & Associates, Ashburton Cranes, Canterbury Cranes, Tarbotton Land & Civil, S&J Piloting Service, Spraymarks, Qualis, Methven Lions, Rakaia Seed and Field and Rakaia Engineering.