Richmond to Welcome Visitors With Giant Inukshuk
20 January 2010
As visitors to Richmond make their way to the Richmond Olympic Oval from the O Zone celebration site during the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, a six storey high inukshuk will welcome the world during Games time as well as symbolically provide direction to the Richmond Olympic Oval.
“Richmond has a very active transportation community which created this symbol of welcome to our city,” explains Mayor Malcolm Brodie. “We are grateful to the numerous businesses and individuals that donated their time, resources and commercial space to build the inukshuk.”
The inukshuk, a temporary installation located at the corner of Gilbert Road and Elmbridge Way, is made up of nine shipping containers. It is part of the Richmond Revealed program which will promote Richmond’s agricultural, transportation, high technology and aviation sectors to visitors during the Games.
To ensure the sustainability of the inukshuk, the integrity of the containers has been preserved through careful engineering so the shipping containers can return to service after disassembly in March. Each of the nine containers weighs 5,000 to 10,000 lbs, depending on the size of the container. The inukshuk will be approximately 16 metres high and 15 metres wide at the base.
Progressive Construction, Big Dog Containers Inc, Coast 2000 Terminals, Richmond Holdings and Swordfern Management, Bogdonov Pao Associates Ltd. Structural Engineers, Team Transport and City of Richmond helped in the creation of the inukshuk.
