Sunshine’s Millennium Man will live on.
Village Cinemas, which commissioned the colossal ironman in 1997, said they were working with Vicinity – the property group that owns and manages Sunshine Marketplace – to bring him back to his former glory.
Village Cinemas released a statement that read: “We proudly commissioned the Millennium Man statue 20 years ago and are now working collaboratively with Vicinity on the restoration and ultimate fate of the statue.”
They declined to comment further about the statue and its fate.
The statement comes after calls for assurances from Sunshine traders and residents about the statue’s future.
Sunshine Business Association member Bruce White said the traders’ group had launched a campaign to restore the statue 18 months ago but it had come to a standstill.
Mr White said despite the assurance from Village Cinemas that the statue would be restored, he was sceptical.
“At this point in time, from my conversations with people [from Village and Vicinity] there are no restoration plans and the statue has been gifted to Vicinity.
“We know that Vicinity will retain the statue on its land but that’s about it.
“If they’ve [Village Cinemas] had a change in heart, that would be great … but from what I understand, there are no concrete plans for restoration.”
Local filmmaker Andrew Robb, who had made
Millennium Man, a documentary about the statue, labelled the assurance as a “commitment” and good news.
“I think he needs to live on,” Mr Robb said.
“Also given his original connection with film, and the recent television interest in filming in the area, he would be a great ambassador for promoting filmmaking in Brimbank.”
Sunshine Marketplace manager Mark Hallowell described the statue as “iconic” for the centre. He did not comment on Village Cinemas’ statement and said any decisions about the statue’s future would be made in conjunction with Village Cinemas, and Brimbank council “if required”.
The giant muscleman holding a globe was created by Footscray’s Big Fish 20 years ago as part of a marketing campaign for Village Cinemas.
