By BARBARA MURRAY

For the untrained eye, the chipped black paint on the body of the whale seemed in dire need of a good dose of paint remover.

But for the trained and educated eye the old paint on the ancient totem pole required quite the opposite — an exacting, meticulous sealing of each and every crack along the entire length of the pole.

An expert in the fine art of totem pole restoration, conservator Andrew Todd had been given the task of restoring the three totem poles that had been in the lobby of the Vancouver Convention Centre.

Armed with two assistants, over 25 years of experience and the tools of his conservation trade, Bowen Islander Todd quietly studied a fault in the massive pole before continuing to mix colour with an acrylic adhesive.

While his colleague of 20 years, David Young, worked on the stabilization of the structure by inserting small wooden doweling into the pole, restoration assistant Nicola Murray sealed the paint cracks — by laboriously brushing the edge of each tiny chip with the colour mixtures created by Todd.

The restoration project took two months. And on Wednesday, Sept. 9, the restored totem poles shared centre-stage with the new granite floor mosaic by Musqueam artist Susan Point.

The re-opening ceremony of the convention centre’s east building was attended by dignitaries including First Nation elders, Senator Yonah Martin and Premier Gordon Campbell.

Two of the three totem poles had been carved by Art Sterritt of the Gitxsan First Nation in 1973. The third totem pole — Sisaxolas — was carved in Alert Bay for Chief Sisaxolas “sometime around 1915” according to current Chief Bill Cranmer of the ’Namgis First Nation. The pole “tells the story of the chief who owns it,” he said, and one of these stories is of another chief who insulted Chief Sisaxolas. That unfortunate chief has been resigned forever to the base of the totem pole.

Sisaxolas, carved by renowned carver Charlie James, was moved to Stanley Park in the 1920s. There it remained for decades until 1987 when it was first erected in the lobby at Canada Place.

This past Wednesday at the re-opening ceremony, as the restored totem poles stood watch over the gathering, Senator Martin said in her speech, “I can’t imagine the countless hands, countless hours that have made today possible.” Andrew Todd’s hands were instrumental in making the day possible. A specialist in sculpture conservation and the man behind the restoration project of the Kamui Mintara outdoor poles on Burnaby Mountain, as well as of poles in Alaska and the Queen Charlottes, his long career is likely rife with such days.

The days are first preceded, however, by the long hours of work by Todd and his colleagues.

Their skilled eyes examine each crack and study each crevice.

The colours of the paint and adhesive compounds are designed to perfectly match the colours on the totem pole.

No centimetre of the ancient red cedar goes uninspected, no fissure unnoticed. Ultimately, the restoration of some of BC’s most precious totem poles comes down to countless hours by trained and patient hands.