it replaced an earlier statue that had stood for 24 years (which is now located at St. Boniface College). There are 6 greenhouses on the grounds, which grow 75,000 bedding plants annually with 40,000 planted on the grounds itself, and the rest distributed to other government buildings. The Golden Boy Each one of the four corners of the copper dome supporting the Golden Boy has a stonework grouping representing the four elements of alchemy, earth, air, fire and water. They are identified as Agriculture, Science, Industry and Art. The dome is above the main floor. The height of the central tower without the Golden Boy is . The statue was first installed in 1919, originally called Eternal Youth, and sculpted by Parisian artist Georges Gardet. The Golden Boy was last regilded and refurbished in 2002, and is illuminated by floodlights. Interior architecture and design The building has various empty niches where statues were planned but never installed. There are various plaques on the walls of the building commemorating events in Manitoba history. Main entrance and the Grand Staircase The main entrance is a perfectly square room measuring on each side, which is meant to represent the numerological number 666, which are all the numbers added from one to 36, which is the square of 6, in mathematics, geometry, and arithmetic. Within the main entrance is the Grand Staircase, which is wide and composed of three flights of 13 steps each."The Interior." Legislative Tour. Province of Manitoba. The steps are made from Botticino marble and brown-veined Carrara marble, reportedly the finest marble in the world. Above the Grand Staircase is two skylights, an inner and an outer structure. The ceiling is made of a glass atrium to allow natural sunlight to illuminate the room. Flanking the steps are life-size North American bison, a symbol of the Province of Manitoba, meant to represent the sacred bulls that guard temple entrances. Made of solid bronze and cast at the Roman Bronze Works in New York City, they were modelled by Georges Gardet, creator of the Golden Boy. Each bison weighs 2,268 kilograms (2½ tons). Legend has it that, to install the bison safely without damaging the marble floors, the main entrance was flooded and left to freeze. Both bison were then placed on enormous slabs of ice cut from the Assiniboine River and safely slid into the building. The bison are one example