Sorry didn't know where to post this... but has anyone else heard of this?!
WV to get Rushmore-like sculpture
'Premier attraction' set for Eagleridge
James Weldon, North Shore News
Published: Wednesday, April 01, 2009
WEST Vancouver could soon be a major tourist destination if a tentative plan by the province to create an imposing public artwork on an exposed rock face at Eagleridge Bluffs goes ahead.
The project would see an 11-storey "Spirit Sculpture," broadly modelled after South Dakota's Mount Rushmore, appear on the mountainside above the new Hwy. 99 connector near Horseshoe Bay.
Planners with the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Arts tabled a final draft of the proposal at a closed-door meeting earlier this month, according to documents obtained by the North Shore News.
The idea is to create construction jobs in the short term and to draw tourism dollars to the region on a permanent basis. "The aim here is to enhance the North Shore's natural beauty," said a ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity. "It's hard to imagine a better way to do that than through sculpture."
While details have not been finalized, the leading proposal envisions a series of four large granite busts arranged side-by-side across a 140-metre stretch of mountainside, carved in the likeness of notable provincial premiers.
The project's cost has been pegged at $100 million, and is expected to balloon from there. The money will come from infrastructure funds released recently by the province as part of its economic stimulus package. While giant granite faces are not traditionally considered infrastructure, the Ministry of Finance was willing to make an exception.
"It's not important whether it's useful or not," said the spokesman. "What's important is it's shovel-ready."
Behind the scenes lobbying by VANOC and Tourism Vancouver on behalf of the regional attraction has resulted in the City of Vancouver once again guaranteeing to cover any cost overrun.
By short-cutting the usual environmental approvals and community consultations, the government expects to be able to start work as early as this spring -- before the final four subjects have been selected.
It appears planners are leaning away from historical figures, such as founding premier John Foster McCreight, due to their relative obscurity.
"With all due respect, this isn't a monument to nobodies," said the official. "And then we've had some real wack jobs running British Columbia over the years."
Consequently, the contenders are contemporary leaders of renown. Glen Clark, Ujjal Dosanjh and the current premier, Gordon Campbell, make up the tentative shortlist.
Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon was apparently considered for inclusion because of his championing of the Eagleridge connector and the location of the sculpture. According to the official, Falcon was ultimately dropped because "he's not technically a premier."
The province's dearth of recognizable leaders may explain the draft drawing that sees Gordon Campbell pencilled in twice in order to "balance" the inclusion of two NDP premiers.
"That's certainly the plan favoured by the administration," said the official. "Designers are thinking one in profile and one head-on, similar to a mugshot."
When the project was first proposed, planners had tabled a number of non-human alternatives. A plan to depict a wild salmon was dropped for fear of protestors defacing the sculpture by adding lice, and the idea of creating an orca was discarded when it was found VANOC held the copyright on marine mammals.
A spokeswoman for the organizing committee, speaking off the record, suggested they might be able to get money out of it anyway. "I won't bore you with the legal complexities, but essentially we've patented mountains," she said.
In response to concerns around the esthetic impacts of the project, the provincial official pointed to the work underway on the Hwy. 99 connector. "Let's be honest," he said. "It can't get any worse."
The monument, already being touted as "West Vancouver's premier attraction," is slated for completion one year from today: April 1, 2010.
Prev
Actually it still sounds pretty good after reading that pdf - it'll be a real Low Level road extension through the reserve. Definitely not just roads for the ports. Still wondering exactly where it'll join Marine in West Van though. Squeeze between HomeSense and the fields?
.
Linear Mode
