It was expected to last a century but after just 35 years the 120-foot iconic tower at the International Peace Gardens is coming down.
A North Dakota-based firm with experience deconstructing concrete grain terminals arrived on site Feb. 22. The contractor was expected to be done the task in about two weeks using a crane and a pair of hydraulically powered jaws to chew it down in pieces.
The tower was built in 1982 and unveiled on the 50th anniversary of the IPG which was dedicated in 1932. Its four columns were meant to symbolize the arrival of people from all four corners of the earth.
Read Also
Giant Canada geese have gone wild in Manitoba
Giant Canada geese are seemingly everywhere and can be fine table fare for local hunters, but 70 years ago, they were borderline extinct.
They’ve been noting the tower’s deterioration for some time, said IPG CEO Garry Enns. It was made of a type of concrete that has been crumbling under the freeze/thaw cycle of the seasons.
“The mixture used to build it was not suited to the climate we are in,” he said. Parts of the tower, such as a reflective pool at its base and floodlights, long ago ceased to operate because of its deterioration, he added.
Last year IPG launched a competition among architectural firms seeking ideas for a new tower and a winning design was chosen from a half-dozen submissions.
But history — not to mention the current financial state of the IPG — suggests it could be a long while before something takes its place.
The tower was part of the original design plans of the IPG way back in the summer of 1932, but it wasn’t until 50 years later that one was actually built, notes Enns.
It is an important part of the IPG, he said. “It has become a symbol representative of the IPG.”
But there is also much discussion and many ideas yet to consider before something takes its place.
“There are those who think we shouldn’t be replacing it at all and just repurposing the space and creating a very different dynamic,” he said.
The IPG itself was the vision of Canadian and American botanists and horticulturalists in the 1920s. It was a time of great hope following the end of what everyone hoped and believed had been “the war to end all wars.”
Enns said his own hope, as the IPG nears its centennial year in 2032, is that attention will focus not only on replacing this one feature but on the entire Peace Gardens which need numerous upgrades and renovations.
“I’m hoping the (IPG) board will think more broadly than simply the tower,” he said. “We are only 15 years away from the 100th anniversary. That’s not that long to go.”
The IPG encompasses just over 2,300 acres which, in addition to its renowned formal gardens, includes hiking and biking trails, a wildlife refuge and picnic and camping areas, an on-site concert hall seating 500 persons, historic lodge and an interpretive centre housing a world-class collection of 6,000 cacti.
Where funding will come from for needed refurbishments remains a question, however.
The IPG’s operating budget is supported by the province of Manitoba and the state of North Dakota. But it only covers about half their costs at this time, and they’re now bracing for cuts as North Dakota signals it faces its own fiscal restraints this year.
“Very concerned,” is how Enns describes the IPG’s current financial situation. They’re looking at a wide variety of fundraising strategies to help them meet their obligations.
Notably, the IPG emerged in times of scarcity, however. In fact, plans initially laid out for the original garden were put on hold for years, Enns said.
Some of the first landscaping was completed through make-work projects under U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt’s Works Progress Administration that put millions of unemployed people to work in public works projects.
The CEO said while it might be tempting to view the tower’s demise as the end of an era, he doesn’t see it that way.
“I would like to say, rather than the end, it is perhaps the beginning of an era,” he said, adding “We should not overlook the optimism that was very much a part of the genesis of this particular site.”
The plan is that the site will eventually be used much more broadly by multiple groups as times advance, and his work ahead is to raise its profile well beyond Manitoba and North Dakota.
The IPG is a critically important reminder of peace between two nations, said Enns. “That has to mean something, especially in today’s world.
“It was put in place as a promise of peace. We have been at peace as neighbours for over 200 years now.”
