One of the North of England’s most famous landmarks, a stainless steel bison seen by hundreds of thousands of M1 motorway travellers each year, will soon find a new home at one of the region’s most popular visitor attractions.
Outokumpu Stainless Ltd, the largest manufacturer and supplier of stainless steel in the UK and one of Sheffield’s leading employers, has agreed to relocate the bison to Rotherham’s Magna Science Adventure Centre.
The fabricated sculpture weighs two tonnes and is made up of sixteen separate cast stainless steel pieces. Until 2001, the bison stood on top of a two metre high plinth adjacent to the northbound M1 at junction 34. It will now take up a similarly high profile position by Magna’s entrance and opposite Magna’s latest addition, the Sci-Tek playground, where it will be seen by hundreds of thousands of visitors to the centre every year.
The bison will officially be unveiled at its new home, less than two miles from its previous site, in a ceremony on 25 August 2004.
Commenting on the decision to move the bison to Magna, Phil Rodrigo, UK Change Manager at Outokumpu Stainless, said:
“We're thrilled that the public will again be able to enjoy the bison sculpture. Magna is an ideal location as it has thousands of visitors each year, including many local people, who, we know from enquiries we receive, really miss him.”
Christine Melia, Managing Director of Magna, added:
“We’re all eagerly awaiting the bison’s arrival and hope it will feel right at home at Magna. Magna was the obvious choice for its relocation due to its steel history and the fact that at least a thousand local people and tourists will get to see and enjoy it every day. We hope that it will gain the landmark status of the Angel of the North here for South Yorkshire.”
The bison sculpture was first installed by Avesta Sheffield, whose company logo was itself a bison, in the summer of 1996 on their land at Shepcote Lane in Sheffield, adjacent to the M1. It was a replica of a sculpture at the company’s site in Avesta, Sweden, that was created by artist Lars Andersson. The Sheffield bison was the work of his son, Jonas Hohental.
After Avesta Sheffield became Avesta Polarit in January 2001, the bison was removed and the company were inundated with enquiries as to its whereabouts. Rumours circulated that the bison had been melted down, but in reality it was simply put into storage until a suitable home had been decided.
Outokumpu completed their takeover of AvestaPolarit in Autumn 2002 and formally renamed the AvestaPolarit operations in January 2004. The decision was then made to relocate the bison at Magna, where it will continue to act as a symbol of South Yorkshire’s prestigious stainless steel industry.
Magna is the UK’s first ever science adventure centre, dramatically set within the massive former Templeborough steelworks in Rotherham, South Yorkshire. Opened in April 2001, Magna uses the themes of steel and the four natural elements - earth, air, fire and water, to offer spectacular hands-on interactive experiences, both indoors and outside for adults and children alike.
For further information, images or interviews, please contact:
Philip Rodrigo at Outokumpu Stainless
Tel. +44 (0) 114 244 3311 / email: philip.rodrigo@outokumpu.com
or
Chris Date at Rave Communications
Tel. +44 (0) 1675 467462 / email: cdate@rave-communications.com
For Magna information, please contact Helen Lear at Spin Media
Tel. +44 (0) 161 236 9909 / email Helen@spinmedia.co.uk
Notes to Editors:
1. Outokumpu is a leading metals and technology group, with annual net sales of about 6 billion euros and employing more than 20,000 people in more than 40 countries. Outokumpu Stainless, a core business area within the group, is one of the world’s four largest producers of stainless steel. Annual net sales of Outokumpu Stainless are about 3,500 million euros and it employs some 9,000 people.
2. Outokumpu Stainless employ 1580 people in Sheffield and Stocksbridge across four sites.
3. Since its launch, Magna has received many prestigious awards including The Yorkshire Tourist Board White Rose Award, The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors Award for Outstanding Achievement, and the coveted Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Stirling Award for Architecture – Building of the Year 2001.
4. The European bison, or viscent, was once found in huge herds and for much of the past 100 years has been protected in reservations. The original owner of the Avesta steelworks helped establish a sanctuary for the bison in a site near the town of Avesta, Sweden