The Town of Harbour Grace prepares to unveil a restored Amelia Earhart statue after it was found in pieces.
Aurora Hickey
Kicker
Morgan MacDonald is restoring the Amelia Earhart statue that disappeared in April 2025. The statue will be returned to the Town of Harbour Grace on May 20. Aurora Hickey/Kicker
The Amelia Earhart statue that was stolen from Harbour Grace in April 2025 is set to be returned to the town on May 20.
The famous Amelia Earhart statue was sculpted by artist Luben Boykov and unveiled in 2007 at the Spirit of Harbour Grace Park.
Mayor Terry Barnes said the statue holds a special place in everyone’s hearts.
“It means a lot to everyone, not only the town of Harbour Grace,” Barnes said. “It means a lot to Newfoundland and Labrador, across Canada and through the United States.”
When the statue disappeared, Barnes said it was a huge blow to the town.
“It was a big deal; our minds were blown,” Barnes said.
Morgan MacDonald was an apprentice to Boykov when the statue was being made. MacDonald is now the artist restoring the statue.
MacDonald said learning the statue had been taken was heartbreaking for him as a sculptor.
“As an artist, seeing something disappear, that would be like somebody destroying a book that you wrote,” said MacDonald.
MacDonald explained that from sculpting a mold in clay, to taking molds and pouring the metal into the molds, creating a statue can take time. MacDonald said it’s not unheard of for the processes of creating and unveiling a statue to take years.
“It takes the entire community to come together and have one of these pieces erected in a town,” MacDonald said.
When the statue was found in August 2025, it was in multiple pieces.
MacDonald is thankful that all the parts of the statue were recovered.
“An example would be if you lost the Mona Lisa and you got it back but there was some damage to the paint. The artwork is still there, but it needs to be restored and touched up to its former glory,” said MacDonald.
MacDonald worked in consultation with the town during the restoration of the statue to prevent any further attempts to damage it.
“We’ve created a stainless-steel skeleton on the inside, so there’s a thick armature welded to the statue itself,” said MacDonald.
Deputy Mayor Gary Baker and Coun. Christina Hearn are co-chairs of the committee tasked with the return of Amelia.
Hearn said it cost more than $200,000 to repair the statue. If insurance had not covered the bulk of the cost, the town would’ve been hard pressed to restore it.
May 20 is the date of the unveiling and the anniversary of Earhart’s landing in Harbour Grace.
Baker said the unveiling ceremony is going to be a localized event involving residents, schoolchildren and possibly dignitaries who were present for the first unveiling of Amelia in 2007.
“The overall feeling and mood in the community is that everybody’s happy; everybody’s pleased to have her home,” said Baker.
Hearn says the statue brings a sense of pride to Harbour Grace.
“Harbour Grace is where she landed,” Hearn said. “It’s where she took off when she took her solo flight over to Europe – and Harbour Gracians are very proud of that fact.”
The town is already preparing for next summer as it will be the 95th anniversary of Earhart’s landing in Harbour Grace.
Hearn says the town wants the 95th celebrations to reach as far and wide as possible and is thrilled to have Amelia back home where she belongs.
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