THUNDER BAY -- A movement to save a crumbling wall of rock is rolling behind a prominent local musician.
Speaking on behalf of the Save the Stone Thunder Bay Facebook group, Rodney Brown appealed to city council on Monday to request it reconsider preserving the High Street retaining wall.
Administration has suggested replacing the "rubble" construction with pressed concrete and has opened tenure for art depicting the city's role in the First World War. Neighbourhood residents attending a June ward meeting rejected that vision, requesting the city consider restoring the stone.
Brown's page attracted over 500 members in its first two days, most of whom are city residents.
"I support saving everything old. It gives us our past, an understanding of where we came from and who we are," Brown said. "So we know who we are, why we're here and where we should go in the future."
Brown's deputation was steeped in storytelling as a millieu to present the wall's timeless value to place. He spoke of an Italian immigrant stone mason who built it, then recalled his own childhood impression of passing the fortress-like imagery to meet the Hillcrest Park view.
Brown assured council he supported public art but insisted the masonry built into the wall already is art in itself.
"I know a young artist who wrote in who told me he's eager to compete and develop the design but artist engagement should not be used as consolation for losing a well-loved landmark," he said.
"It would perhaps be better allocated to a project in an area where people could stop, contemplate and appreciate the work."
Couns. Larry Hebert and Aldo Ruberto committed their votes to supporting preserving the stone on the retaining wall. Brown was encouraged.
"I was impressed. There seemed to be a lot of support on the council for saving what's there so I think it went very well," he said after the deputation.
"I think the city could save a lot of money by using what's there and just fixing what's there and maintaining what's there. I believe it's an asset. That wall can last forever and continue to tell stories in Thunder Bay."
The wall's reconstruction is listed among 2017 budget priorities in Red River Coun. Brian McKinnon's ward but he said its proposed cost has already crested $2.4 million.
Administration has reached out to Algonquin College's stone mason program in hopes of exploring the restoration option.
