Decaying totem pole should be saved: city staff
St. Catharines city staff are recommending the decaying totem pole in Centennial Gardens be immediately taken down, restored and reinstalled in the park.
In a report coming to council Monday, staff looked at options for the totem pole’s future and chose the one most of the public preferred during consultations last year.
“The overwhelming recommendation from the public had a lot to do with the (staff) recommendation,” said Kathleen Powell, the city’s acting supervisor of culture services.
“I think that they want to see it there because it’s been there for so long. It’s now a part of the city’s fabric, because it’s been there for more than 50 years.”
Saving the totem pole and reinstalling it at the park in 2020 is estimated to cost $100,000 to $125,000, along with ongoing yearly maintenance costs of $1,000.
City council will be asked to make a decision at Monday’s meeting.
The totem pole was commissioned by the city for $6,800 in 1966 as a focal point for Centennial Gardens. The park was developed to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Confederation. It was designed and carved by renowned Kwakwaka’wakw artist Doug Cranmer of the ‘Namgis Nation in British Columbia and shipped to St. Catharines by train.
At 10.7 metres tall, the pole was installed with a crane in the park, which was officially opened on July 1, 1967.
The totem pole is an artwork and not a sacred totem pole. It’s in the city’s public art collection and has a value of $120,000. But over the years the totem pole has deteriorated and squirrels, bees and ants have lived in it.
A consultant’s report by Richardson Tree Care and Landscaping provided to the city in December found the pole is decayed in the centre and there’s evidence of deterioration extending to its exterior.
“It’s already past the point of us putting a coat of paint on it, it’s not going to help,” Powell said. “We need to actually restore it now, do something for it, because the interior is the problem.”
The city held three public consultation sessions about the totem pole’s future in June 2018 attended by 42 people, and received a total 95 responses to a survey. Sixty-three of the 95 respondents wanted the totem pole to be restored and returned to the park.
In the end, the city looked at five options — restoring the pole and reinstalling it at Centennial Gardens; restoring the pole and installing it indoors; installing it indoors without restoration; installing it indoors without restoration and replacing it with local Indigenous art; and leaving it as is without restoration.
The most expensive option was the restoration and reinstallation because of the cost of yearly maintenance.
The city’s public art advisory committee also supported that option in February. But if it turns out not to be feasible due to the totem pole’s condition, the committee’s second choice is to replace it with a new piece of local Indigenous art and display the totem pole indoors without restoration.
Powell said the city simply won’t know the true condition of the totem pole until it’s removed and experts can take a closer look at the rotting wood.
“We don’t know what’s going to happen when we pull it down. We could find out it’s completely hollow half way down. We don’t really know what it’s going to look like,” she said. “Then the question will be to take a look at that and say, can it be restored?”
A potential indoor location hasn’t been identified because of the recommendation to keep it outdoors, but options would be limited due to the height of the pole.