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Who is this tall stranger?
Saturday, July 7th, 2007 by GetawayBC.com
The current Mr. PG, short for Mr. Prince George, was built in 1983. The statue is 8.138 metres tall and is constructed of fiberglass and sheet metal painted to look like wood. Mr. PG is located at the junction of highways 97 and 16 in front of the tourist information centre.
In 1960, the first Mr. PG was constructed as a symbol of the importance of the forest industry to Prince George. It was originally 40′ tall and made of spruce wood. The mascot was built to ride on a float in the Pacific National Exhibition parade in Vancouver, and was the prizewinner for best float. On the parade float, Mr. PG was hinged so it could bend down when the float encountered high wires. It could also speak. In between appearances, Mr. PG was kept on display at The Chamber of Commerce building and was later moved to the Tourist Information Centre.
In 1983, Mr. PG began to deteriorate and rot, and in the summer of 1983, a reconstructed Mr. PG was erected. The new Mr. PG has a yellow hardhat and a time capsule filled with memorabilia representing Prince George in 1983 in its chest.;