THE RING OF TRUTH
Congratulations to Bob Budd, designer of the new sculpture for Beacon Quay down by the side of the harbour
It cannot have been easy to come up with a memorable and attractive work of public art for the cost of one sixth the price of a starter home. His design for a steel ring is certainly minimalist, probably out of necessity. More debatable are the glass panels in the pavement to view nothing more spectacular than old concrete slabs. The steel ring will epitomise the hole at the centre of Torbay's aspirations and ambitions.
What is needed in this jaded, faded resort is a landmark installation that would become a useful, money earning visitor attraction, similar to the Cliff Railway, now celebrating 80 years of fame.
For example, the designers of the London Eye have come up with a visitor attraction that is looking for a home. It is a tall, slender observation tower, where the whole observation platform rises and falls, rather than an internal lift. It is a thing of beauty, modernistic and simple, and relatively cheap and easy to install; a tourist attraction which would earn its keep while providing Torbay with a 21st. century identity.
