Terry Fox Memorial at BC Place by Douglas Coupland
byMany have been concerned about the fate of Vancouver’s only memorial for Terry Fox on Beatty and Robson as BC Place undergoes a massive renovation. However PavCo, the operators of BC Place and coordinators of the stadium and plaza’s revitalization, has just announced that they have commissioned local author and artist Douglas Coupland to create a new Terry Fox memorial.
Terry Fox Plaza is slated for renovation as part of the current revitalization of BC Place and surrounding grounds, and the existing memorial must be removed as part of the upgrade to the plaza. Both PavCo and the Fox family have agreed that removal of the current memorial provides an opportunity to replace it with a new and lasting commemoration of Terry Fox’s “Marathon of Hopeâ€. Coupland, who wrote the 2005 fundraiser tribute book “Terryâ€, was retained by PavCo to create the new memorial in consultation with the Fox family.
Coupland’s latest piece of public art is the “Digital Orca” at the Vancouver Convention Centre. In 2005 he published “Terryâ€, a tribute book in collaboration with the Terry Fox Foundation.
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Oh thank goodness! That horrible 80s faux arc de triumph is an abomination, totally unworthy of such a hero.
Would a nice bronze be asking too much?
I agree with Karen! The existing monument is horrific and bears no obvious visual reference to Terry and all that he represents.
Proof that the existence of something lame can actually be worse than having nothing at all.. as it prevents a more fitting tribute from being attempted.
Glad this is finally being remedied.
Indeed, I came here to add my own disdain for that horrible monument. I don’t love everything Coupland does, but he clearly has enormous affection for Fox, so he should do a good job.
Good news! I agree with Darren, but I do love the digital orca.
Has the Fox family weighed in on this one? Not that I loved the previous one, but do they have any affinity to the original one?
I hope he does a digital Terry! The orca is great.
I bet it’s going to be something typical that Canadians do now, some modern looking pretentious pile of crap bearing no resemblance to the man it’s supposed to represent. This is exactly the problem with the horrific memorial that stands there now. Sorry, the average person doesn’t have the ability to recognize and separate art and memorial. How about just doing a larger than life sized statue of Terry Fox?? That way young people and new residents can actually see what the man looked like. You know this isn’t going to happen though.
LC, he was asked to do it by the Fox Family themselves, so I suspect this means that they have weighed in on it..
I know you have been commissioned to create a new monument in honour of Terry Fox. As I heard this an idea jumped into my mind, put the “larger than life” sized statue of Terry Fox, suggested by Jack on Oct 19/10, in bronze, on a base that is the map of Canada with Terry Fox standing at Thunder Bay.
If you use this idea, I don’t want any money/remuneration, just an acknowledgment of my idea.