 IT'S another place - from another angle. Antony Gormley's Another Place sculptures have created a major stir since they began to appear on Waterloo beach earlier this month. The acclaimed artist's evocative series of cast iron figures at various stages of submersion in the Mersey Estuary is expected to be a major tourist attraction in the region this summer. Gormley, the man also responsible for The Angel of the North, will be in Crosby on Friday for the official launch of the installation which will remain on Merseyside for 18 months. The figures, naked and life-size, were cast from the artist's own body. They are being installed along a 3km stretch of the coastline and the last few are still being put in place for Friday's launch. Many superb photographs have already captured the figures from the beach side but today's Daily Post images capture how the piece looks from the river. At £150,000, Another Place has been jointly funded through the Mersey Waterfront programme, the Mersey Docks and Harbour Company, the Arts Council and the South Sefton Partnership. Mersey Waterfront is tasked with regenerating the 135km of the region's coastline stretching from Southport to Wirral, and bringing in the coastal areas of Liverpool and Halton. The programme is helping to fund a series of projects which build on Merseyside's maritime heritage and existing leisure facilities. Louise Hopkins, director of Mersey Waterfront, said: "The Antony Gormley sculptures are genuinely visionary. "Another Place is not just about physical regeneration, it's about making people feel differently about the Liverpool city region. "It's a classic example of how we can get into the psyche of people who may have an old-fashioned view of Merseyside. "To have a picture of our coastline on the front of a national newspaper - which we've already had - helps us challenge the perceptions of people who may not know about the wonderful coastline we have here. "The installation isn't even complete yet but so many people have already been down to see the figures. It's got people talking about the coast and starting to realise what an attractive place it is to spend a summer's evening." The stretch of coastline covered by Another Place currently welcomes 350,000 visitors a year and that is confidently expected to double during the installation. Another Place is seen as complementing a Mersey Waterfront-funded package of improvements to Crosby Coastal Park, including new footpaths, restoration of the dunes and conservation of wetland habitat. Other projects supported by Mersey Waterfront include the new Cruise Liner facility at Liverpool's Princes Dock and major improvements to revitalise Southport and the Wigg Island Nature Reserve at Runcorn. It regards Another Place as a major coup for Crosby and Waterloo, particularly considering it is Liverpool's Capital of Culture-themed Year of the Sea. Visitors to the piece are expected to boost the local economy by around £5m before it leaves to find a new home, likely to be in New York. andykelly@dailypost.co.uk | 
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