Watch kept on Riff Raff

ON CAMERA: Hamilton's new statue of Riff Raff will be looked after. (JEFF BRASS/Waikato Times)

Source: http://stuff.co.nz/stuff/waikatotimes/0,2106,3112298a6579,00.html

29 November 2004
 
Will Riff Raff be safe from the riff-raff? 

Hamilton's newest cultural icon, a statue of the creepy, bent-backed, heels-and-fishnets butler from the Rocky Horror Picture Show, was unveiled in Victoria St at midnight on Friday.

But given the controversial nature of this public work of art, Hamilton City Council is conscious of the potential for the $125,000 statue to become a target for vandals.

And not just from the city's black t-shirted bogans and philistines.

There was an outcry from Hamilton's conservative sector when the idea of the transvestite statue was first floated.

In the early 1990s, similarly controversial Egyptian statues at Hamilton Gardens were the target of repeated attacks.

One of Hamilton's security cameras will be trained on the statue, while "City Nighters" night patrols will also give it surveillance priority.

However, council communication manager Phillip Burton said the huge "buy-in" from the public also offered great protection.

"You do sense there is overwhelming support from the public and they will feel protective. I'd like to think residents in general will be looking out for the statue."