Family and friends gathered in the gazebo area of the University of The Bahamas’ Keva M. Bethel building, to witness the unveiling of the “Legends Garden.”

​The garden is the new home of three bronze life-size statues of Bahamian cultural icons Ronnie Butler, Eric “King Eric” Gibson and John Berkley “Peanuts” Taylor.

At the foot of each one is a brief synopsis of their lives  and impact on the entertainment community.

​The statues were a donation from FML Group of Companies CEO, Craig Flowers, who said the idea was born out of a promise he made to his late father.

​“My dad felt very obligated and appreciative of the fact that those three gentlemen would have contributed tremendously to the success of our restaurant and bar back in the 70’s,” he said.

​“You know when I came back home from Africa some 12 years ago, he and I sat and we had a long discussion.

​“One of the things that he really would have loved to had seen was the opportunity to say thank you to those three gentleman that I’m honoring now.”

​Mr. Flowers said all three gentlemen had an opportunity to spend some time with the sculptor, each giving their input.

​“We knew that having statues made of living people, that they would require a lot of work because persons see themselves different from what the artist is doing.

​“We went down that road, certainly it was an amazing trip for us, it’s been six years now.

​“They came over and they interviewed, they talked with them and they chose photographs and pictures of how they wanted to see themselves as a statue, what pose, stance, etc.

​“And there were long dialogues between them. We spent a lot of time bringing the people in from Africa to sit and to speak with them.

​“This was some very interesting times because Eric Gibson was very meticulous with what he wanted himself to look like.”

​According to Mr. Flowers, the concept of creating the statues began in 2012.

​The sculptures were eventually created by Nigerian, Michael Maghiro.