Marble sculpture adorns Alberta's first accessible outdoor rink in Calgary
A marble sculpture that took more than two years and 1,600 hours of work to complete is now adorning Alberta's first accessible outdoor rink.
The sculpture is called Creating a Champion and features a parent and child wearing skates and hockey equipment in front of a net.
And it's big.
Sculptor Bill Harvey started with a block of Vancouver Island marble weighing close to 10,000 kilograms and the process of chiseling it into a finished product saw more than half of the stone removed.
"It was a major accomplishment," said Harvey. "I was in a big shop up in Red Deer and after doing all of the cleanup, it was sitting there in the shop all on its own and I turned around to look at it and it was like, 'Wow, I did that,' … and it's a pretty big deal."
Harvey says he got the idea to work with stone after a 1973 visit to Rome.
"Michelangelo was just so unbelievable to do what he did with hammers and chisels," he said. "So what I did is, I said to myself, 'Well, what could I do with modern power tools?'"
He began working on the sculpture in 2019 and it took upward of 1,600 hours to complete. The piece was inspired by a Canadian hockey legend.
"I thought about Wayne Gretzky as a champion hockey player and the idea came to me that well, this is not Wayne Gretzky but it's the creation of a champion," he said. "And I thought to myself, I wonder how Walter Gretzky (thought) of Wayne Gretzky."
Andy Thiessen lives in Parkdale and is the volunteer operations manager at the rink, a fancy term for what he calls "a winter gardener" who watches water freeze. Thiessen saw Harvey's sculpture and thought it would be a good addition at the facility.
"I acquired the piece and then wanted to donate it to this project that I'm so passionately involved with," said Thiessen. "Now it sits here and it's got a little sign that says it was donated by my family and you know what, 30 years from now my kids can come back and see something that dad and grandpa was a part of and yeah, it's pretty cool."
The piece has been appraised at between $15,000 and $30,000.
Josephine Cameron is 11 years old and can't wait to skate on the new ice surface with her friends. She's impressed by the new sculpture and its title, Creating a Champion.
"I love it, it's awesome, it's really inspiring because it's like a boy and his dad learning how to skate," she said.
Cameron learned from Harvey how meticulous the work was on the piece to make it look realistic, like carving the hockey net.
"On each square took like 10 to 15 minutes and there's like hundreds of them," said Cameron.
John Butterwick is another volunteer and the accessible rink project manager. He says five years ago, Parkdale's old outdoor rink had to be closed because it was in bad shape.
"One of our first community engagement meetings, there was a question asked, will the rink be accessible and we thought, 'Wow, why aren't rinks accessible, who knows who's the best person to talk to about learning about this?'" he said.
The community then began consulting with the Sledge Hockey Association and players to come up with a design.
"What's amazing about this facility is that it is completely accessible, it is built for a sledge hockey standards and requirements," said Parkdale Community Association president Amanda Affonso.
"So we've got the clear boards, the wider gates, we've got the warming area so you can transition from your wheelchair to your sled and just having the accessible bathrooms close by and just the ease of access transitioning from outside of the rink to the refit is completely flush."
The grand opening of the new $1,700,000 facility takes place Jan. 29.
Learn more about Parkdale Community Association online.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Ontario couple among passengers on sinking tour boat in Dominican Republic
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
7 surveillance videos linked to extortions of South Asian home builders in Edmonton released
The Edmonton Police Service has released a number of surveillance videos related to a series of extortion cases in the city now dubbed 'Project Gaslight.'
Ukraine uses long-range missiles secretly provided by U.S. to hit Russian-held areas, officials say
Ukraine for the first time has begun using long-range ballistic missiles provided secretly by the United States, bombing a Russian military airfield in Crimea last week and Russian forces in another occupied area overnight, American officials said Wednesday.
BREAKING Manitoba government tables bill to end ban on homegrown recreational cannabis
Manitoba is planning to lift its ban on the home growing of recreational cannabis.
All Alberta wildfires to date in 2024 believed to be human-caused: province
There are 63 wildfires burning in Alberta's forest protection area as of Wednesday morning and seven mutual aid fires, including one in the Municipal District of Peace.
Pilot proposes to flight attendant girlfriend in front of passengers
A Polish pilot proposed to his flight attendant girlfriend during a flight from Warsaw to Krakow, and she said yes.