Another 3 dolphins to leap into public view
Former hotel sculpture moving to highrise on Kelowna’s waterfront
The number of dolphins visible from Waterfront Park will soon double from three to six. A sculpture made 25 years ago by Kelowna artist Bob Dow Reid and long on display inside the Delta Grand hotel has been refinished and made suitable for all-weather display.
“I’m happy to see it coming outside because I think it’ll have a higher visibility for more members of the public,” Reid said Thursday.
The 4.6-metre black fibreglass sculpture, of one large and two small dolphins, will be installed near the front entrance of the Dolphins highrise on Sunset Drive. From where it’s situated, next to the lagoon, it’ll be seen by people walking in Waterfront Park.
Plans are to install the refinished sculpture, called Harmony, before the August long weekend.
“It’s a beautiful piece of art, and we really want to showcase it,” said Clifford Ames, of the Dolphins strata council.
When owners of the Delta Grand hotel renovated the property two years ago, they decided the dolphins sculpture didn’t fit with the new decor. So they offered the work, valued at more than $100,000, free to the Dolphins strata council.
Strata members contacted Reid, who refinished the sculpture at his own expense over the past year. Reid also created the larger Rhapsody sculpture, which also consists of three dolphins, that was commissioned and installed by the city at the entrance to Waterfront Park in 1992.
The Dolphins strata council paid for an engineered base for Harmony’s new location, and for the redevelopment of a small landscaped area into a blue-and-grey stone garden meant to mimic a water feature. The sculpture will be lit at night.
Some public controversy greeted the unveiling of the Rhapsody sculpture in 1992 because, obviously, there are no dolphins in Okanagan Lake.
“But I never had a problem with it,” Jim Stuart, who was mayor of Kelowna at the time, recalled Thursday. “I have a lot of respect for Bob Reid. To me, the dolphins are playful and entertaining.”