Francis the Pig, famous fugitive of the 90s, due to return to Red Deer this week

The sculpture of a pig that eluded capture in Red Deer for months will return to its home in a Red Deer park after undergoing renovations.

Red Deer is preparing to welcome back Francis the Pig, who has been absent from the central Alberta city for two years.

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The statue commemorating a pig who was a fugitive for several months in 1990 after escaping a local slaughterhouse will be unveiled at the Central Spray and Play Park on Friday.

“We have specifically put him on a low base with some texture that’s safe for slippery feet if kids come from the spray park. Kids love to hug him and climb on him and touch him and see this, this little piggy friend of theirs,” said Colleen Sharpe, Red Deer’s community development coordinator.

“We’ve been asked repeatedly over the two years, ‘Where’s Francis?’ People miss him.”

‘He’s an inspiration’

Francis the Pig was immortalized and unveiled in 1998 as part of Red Deer’s ghost sculpture collection, a series of public statues depicting stories from Red Deer’s history.

A couple years ago, maker Danek Mozdzenski and a friend were visiting Francis when they realized the sculpture’s mounts had mostly been cut through. It seemed to Mozdzenski that thieves were preparing to steal it that very night.

The city took it down and worked with the artist to make Francis more theft proof.

Not only did Mozdzenski design a more secure platform for Franics, but he took the opportunity to add some finishing details, like daisies below Francis’ feet.

“It represents him running for his life and so he’s just taking off and he’s jumping over something. That something is a hedge of daisies, and that hedge is where the large supporting rails are. So that hedge device provides a comic component: He’s going through this still smelling of roses,” the artist explained.

Revisiting old work this way and learning of the community’s love for Francis has been very special for Mozdzenski.

“In making public monuments, you want to ensure that certain histories, certain values, certain events, are kept in the public consciousness. And Francis the Pig still serves, after all these years, as a leading citizen of Red Deer,” he explained.

“He was an individual that took great initiative. There’s a message to every one of us in that. Not only is he a source of glee (and) entertainment, but also he’s an inspiration.”

‘Francis Friday’

“I remember the excitement,” Sharpe, who grew up in Red Deer, said of the months that Francis was free. “Like, ‘Oh, might we see him?’”

Part of the pig’s appeal, she speculates, is the public’s love for mythology and animals. But it’s also the underdog – or underpig – story.

“Somehow we can relate to that image of a pig having a personality and imagining this pig that is like, ‘I’m not going to go through with my inevitable fate. I’m going to beat the odds,’” she said.

The pig is staying in a blanket until Friday’s unveiling, nicknamed by the city “Francis Friday.”

The 2 p.m. event will consist of activities like crafts, snacks, giveaways, and free walking tours of the ghost statue collection.

Once Francis the Pig is reinstated, “Francis Friday” could become an annual thing, Sharpe said.

“We’re sorry it took so long, but we really did a good job on it. Wait ‘til you see it.”

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Amanda Anderson and Steven Dyer