Cats back on guard at the Capitol

The second massive marble lion carefully lifted onto its perch flanking the east steps to the Utah Capitol on Monday was supposed to be a slightly younger version of a sculpture placed hours earlier.

But when the padded blankets and other wrappings protecting it were removed, it became clear that the second lion was actually the oldest of what will be four fierce felines guarding the east and west entrances to the statehouse.

"He has more hair. He's older," said a surprised David Hart, executive director of the Capitol Preservation Board that is overseeing the nearly completed renovation project that cost more than $200 million.

The mix-up doesn't matter much— all it means is that as visitors walk into the east entrance of the Capitol, the elder lion named "Fortitude" will be on their right and the middle-aged "Integrity" will be on their left instead of the reverse.

Hart and the others involved in putting the finishing touches on the recently reopened Capitol were just pleased that the lions were safely in place after being transported by truck from sculptor Nick Fairplay's Ohio studio.

The second pair of lions, which will be placed outside the Capitol's west entrance, are due to arrive sometime this fall. Fairplay, a British master carver, is still working on a teenaged lion, "Patience," and the youngest of the four, "Honor."

The quartet replaces a set of identical lions cast in concrete more than 90 years ago at a cost of $800 that were cracking despite a 1975 restoration. The new lions, carved from Italian Carrara marble, each cost $100,000.

Hart said the old lions are sitting in a state warehouse awaiting a decision on their fate. He said the idea of making each of the new lions a little different was intended to give the artist "creative license" as he crafted each beast.

Among the state employees and Capitol visitors gathered to watch a giant crane move the 17,000-pound statues Monday was Rob Pett, the architect over the lion project. Pett, whose grandmother lived across City Creek Canyon, often played on the old lions as a child.

"They're beautiful," Pett said of the sculptor's replacements for the cast concrete he once climbed. "I'm very pleased. I think he did a magnificent job. They're as statuesque as I thought they'd be."

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