He stands guard at the entrance to Bath Lane, a gold mask over his face, a top hat and a pig under his arm.No, he’s not one of those slow-moving buskers in metallic face paint, making a gradual bid for your coins - although retailers are presumably hoping he will do that too – he’s the new face of Bath Lane, and he was unveiled for the first time yesterday.“We wanted it to stand the test of time,” Rob’s Jeanery owner Fiona Naughton said of the 3.3-metre bronze statue.“You want people to be saying in the future, ‘let’s meet at the man with the top hat.’”The statue is one of two new sculptures at each end of the narrow street and was funded by the City of Greater Bendigo at a cost of $60,000.“It is a successful example of the council and retailers working together,” Ms Naughton said.Melbourne artist Craig Haire won the initial competition to create an artwork at the Mitchell Street end of the lane.“It’s essentially to represent the history of Bath Lane in a way that’s entertaining and it looks like a good piece of sculpture,” he said. After modifying the design to satisfy all stakeholders, sculpture was cast in bronze at the Garage Art Foundry in Elphinstone and positioned on an upturned bath, made from concrete.City of Greater Bendigo urban design advisor Brad Hooper said the caped figure was a theatre goer, program in hand, representing the theatre that once stood where the Lifestyle Fitness gym is today.“The pig is for the livestock building that used to be down the lane,” he said.Councillor James Reade said the two statues marked the last stage of the Bath Lane redevelopment, which has included road upgrades and advertising.“The key thing is traders took charge – this is part of their design,” he said.At the other end of the one-way street sits Bendigo artist Yvonne George’s giant film reel.The sculpture is made of rust-coloured laminated steel and came up from discussions with locals about their enduring images of the lane.“A lot of people I talked to thought the theatre part was interesting,” she said. “I hope these more contemporary pieces will give people a buzz.”“I’m looking forward to all the comments, good or bad...people will ask, ‘what the hell is this man doing?’