Kirkcaldy's new giant red heart become focal point of Esplanade

The newly-erected sculpture, installed on Tuesday, depicts a heart sunk into the ground.

The sculpture was created by Rory Thomas at the artistic blacksmith firm, Iron Designs by Rory, after being commissioned by Fife Council. He works with son Kyran and they are based in Leslie – they have created and installed several projects throughout Fife, including a lifesize hippo in Glenrothes town centre.

The sculpture has been two years in the making and has been ready for the last 18 months, buter issues with groundworks meant the installation was delayed. It now sits next to the human sundial to honour Sir Sanford Fleming which was created by Rory.

He said he hopes the sculpture will play its part in the regeneration of Kirkcaldy: “It's just to lighten the mood and become a focal point. A lot of cities around the world have hearts and it just seems to bring people in. The whole promenade is looking good and if they get that right they can start working back.”

Fife Council's economic adviser for town centre development,Andrew Walker, explained the new sculpture was commissioned to provide a positive focal point for the town and its waterfront.

"Investment in our town centres is a key priority for the council, and there's a lot of positive work going on in Kirkcaldy including the improvements being made to the waterfront, the work on Volunteers’ Green, information and directional signage, the sundial celebration of Sir Standford Fleming and the lighting of closes that link to the waterfront.

"This artwork was funded by the Scottish Government's Place Based investment fund as part of a Kirkcaldy town centre ‘Gateways and Closes’ project and is an important part of a creating a sense of place, improving the look and feel of the town and to help tell the interesting and varied stories that the town has to tell."

The sculpture has generally been well received online, with many taking to Facebook to let their opinion be known.

One user said: “I love it, it looks like happiness to me, bright and bold” and another, who saw the sculpture soon after installation, said: “Just passed it, totally made me smile”.

In conjunction with the unveiling, Iron Design by Rory is running a photography competition with entrants asked to like, share and post their pictures on their Facebook post unveiling the heart. Three winners will be picked at random.