This ferocious lion used to guard the Centre Street Bridge.The bridge was built in 1916 and featured four huge lions, two at each end of the bridge as guardians. Centre Street leads directly to Chinatown after crossing the river and local legends claimed that the lions came alive after dark and roamed the downtown streets...though I'm not sure what they were looking for.
The bridge was closed for one year for restoration in 2001...a major disruption to traffic flowing into the city centre. The orginal lions were replaced as part of that restoration.
This magnificent beast now guards the modern, blue glass city hall...where he looks just a little forlorn. I patted him on the head and fed him some candy!
