LAC LA BICHE - The spirally, two-storey, metal feather that has greeted visitors to the Bold Centre since 2019 was removed Thursday morning by construction crews as part of ongoing work on the site of the new aquatic facility.
The 20-foot-tall feather, which is 42 inches in diameter and weighs more than 4,000 pounds, was created by Plamondon-based artist Melanie Braund. Until now, it was located in the middle of the traffic circle in front of the Bold Centre with 16 other hand-cut sculptures around it. These sculptures include silhouettes of a maple leaf, a hockey player, and a shark.
Just hours after the feather was hoisted onto the back of a flatbed truck by construction crews, Jihad Moghrabi, the manager of marketing, communications, and engagement for Lac La Biche County, said the feather and accompanying pieces will eventually be relocated to another area of the public parking lot.
“It is being stored temporarily off-site before being reinstalled at the Bold Centre,” Moghrabi told Lakeland This Week. “The traffic circle will be permanently removed.
Moghrabi said the feather sculpture is iconic to the Bold Centre and valued by the community.
“Retaining the sculpture, just like retaining the overall “look and feel” of the Bold Centre, has been a priority of the New Aquatics Facility project since early in the design,” he said.
"I know they will take care of it"
— Artist Melanie Braund
When asked if she wanted to be around to watch while her creation was being removed and relocated, Braund said she had no plans to do so.
“I’m not concerned about being there,” she said. “I know they will take care of it.”
Braund continued by saying that the main development planners did reach out and have a meeting with her regarding relocation of her artwork and the future planning on this.
“I was happy they consulted with me beforehand so I could suggest a few insights I had about it,” the artist said. “I felt the sculptures could be separated and installed around the Bold Centre because they were community, nature (and) facility themed sculptures. They have hired a design team, so I’m comfortable also leaving it up to them.”
Regarding how she feels about her artwork being relocated, Braund is easy going about the whole situation.
“It’s unfortunate that it has to be moved but the sculptures also have potential in other areas,” she said. “I hope they want more art features in the future. That’s the hope as an artist.”
Attention to the move
There were delays in getting the feather taken down. According to Philip Byrne of EllisDon Construction, crews were originally going to use a zoom boom (a hydraulic lifting machine also known as a telehandler used for moving materials across a jobsite) and a mid-size hoe to remove the feather but opted instead to use a cherry picker.
The feather was initially scheduled to come down on Monday, but this was delayed because the picker truck had broken down on Friday and needed to be repaired earlier this week. Byrne stated that the crane needed to remove the sculpture was unavailable on Monday.
The feather’s removal came a day after the official ground-breaking ceremony for the $46 million-dollar aquatic centre that is projected to be completed by 2026.
