A tribute to the eagles is about to rise in Brackendale.
Thor Froslev, curator of the Brackendale Art Gallery, is nearly ready to move on the next phase of his long-planned Eagle Tower Monument.
The massive 36-foot beams of the three-storey tower, designed by renowned architect Henry Yorke Mann, will rise in the very near future - Froslev, as ever, won't say exactly when - under the watchful eye of master builders Steve Ladner and Kirk Stockner.
"They're master builders and I don't use that term lightly, because I know a lot of builders," says Froslev.
While Froslev is coy on the date when the timbers will rise, he will say that Mann himself will be at the gallery Monday night (Aug. 9) for a free lecture and slide presentation.
Mann is the son and grandson of master builders and a graduate of the University of Oregon School of Architecture who has been practicing his art since 1962, designing residences, community centers and sacred places.
Mann's design for the Brackendale Eagle monument is "heavily engineered", featuring post-and-bracket post-Industrial Revolution construction that will allow the monument to withstand an earthquake.
Froslev sees the tower as a landmark for the community of Brackendale and a symbol of the eagles that make their home there. "I'm looking at the BAG as an art piece - a functional art piece,"he said previously. "This place needs the tower to pull all the other pieces together."
One of Froslev's future dreams for the monument is for it to be the site of Squamish's first carillon, with the first four notes of "O Canada" to be played over the community every day at noon.
Activity surrounding the monument continues the following Sunday (Aug. 15) as Brackendale stalwart Valdy comes to the BAG for a special mid-summer benefit concert for the monument, with admission by donation.
