Sculpture installed into the façade of the Civic Centre redevelopment

This was the moment when the Cartwheeling Boys sculpture was gently lifted into place at its new home at the Civic Centre today.

It’s four years and seven days since the sculpture was last seen in public, after the hurricane-force winds of Storm Eunice toppled the wall it was set upon in February 2022.

One of the three figures was badly damaged when winds, which set a new record for the strongest gust in England at 122 miles per hour (196 kilometres per hour) on the Isle of Wight, swept through the borough.

There was a determination to repair the sculpture and find it a new home, so it was carefully retrieved, with all parts were kept in storage.

The sculpture was a gift from Reading’s twin town of Düsseldorf, Germany, to mark the 30th anniversary of the link between the two. It symbolises the tradition of children performing cartwheels as a sign of joy and celebration.

The sculpture was installed on a purpose-built wall in 1981 opposite the entrance to the then council offices, near The Hexagon theatre on San Francisco Libre Walk, with sculptor Brian Slack in attendance. The council offices closed in 2015 and moved to Bridge Street.

In 2023, the Council received funding to redevelop the Bridge Street council offices, create a bespoke Central Library, and improve the customer reception area. Plans were set in motion to add a sculpture to the exterior of the building.

Modern techniques of computer modelling were combined with traditional sculpting to repair the sculpture, restoring it to near original state thanks to The Affable Design Company and AB Fine Art Foundry.

Our construction partners, Morgan Sindall, created a strong frame for the sculpture on the exterior of the new reception area, and a crane lifted the figures into place and fixed them to its new home today (Wednesday 25 February).

It will now stand proudly on the Civic Centre at the corner of Bridge Street and Fobney Street.

Councillor Liz Terry, Leader of the Council, said: “What better way to mark a project like redeveloping the Civic Centre and creating a new Central Library than incorporating a symbol of Reading’s history.

“The then Mayor of Reading, Councillor Phoebe Cusden, cultivated links with Germany in 1947, and they are still strong today.

“Thank you to everyone who has been involved in keeping the sculpture safe since that terrible storm, those who have worked innovatively to recreate the parts that could not be salvaged, and the team delivering the civic redevelopment.

“The Reading Düsseldorf Association has also funded the information board, which will tell people the history of the sculpture and how it came to be at the Civic Centre.

“I am so pleased to see the Cartwheeling Boys back up on display in Reading, where they deserve to be.”

The new Central Library is set to open this summer and will be accessed through the redesigned reception that opened a month ago. There will be a rededication of the sculpture later in the year.

The redevelopment of the Civic Centre, the creation of a new Central Library and the modernisation of library services have been possible due to a multi-million pound investment in the cultural offer in the town by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.