Surely, Santa would approve.
When the finishing touches were recently completed on a major renovation of Beardmore’s familiar, towering snowman structure overlooking the Highway 11 village, locals were left feeling rather jolly.
“I was just driving around the (structure’s) base this morning,” former Beardmore mayor Eric Rutherford said on Thursday. “You can tell they did a really good job.”
On Thursday, the province confirmed its $172,000 share of the renovation, amounting to 75 per cent of the total cost. Renovation work began this summer.
“As part of the restoration, the snowman will be clad and sprayed with polyurea, a durable, high-performance material selected to help protect the structure for years to come,” a Municipality of Greenstone project backgrounder said.
The project is to “preserve an important feature that reflects the character and identity of the Beardmore community,” it added.
Held in place by metal beams, the 10-metre snowman has been at its present location beside Beardmore’s Greenstone ward office for about 25 years. It continues to be a tourist magnet.
Rutherford noted the structure’s curling broom that rests in its arm is already in place for the upcoming winter season; in the summer — wait for it — the arm grasps a fishing pole.
“It’s amazing how many times you see people stopping through the day, getting their picture taken,” said Rutherford, who still lives in the village that’s surrounded by steep cliffs.
Beardmore’s original snowman was built out of wood in the 1950s and erected beside Beardmore’s legion building.
Rutherford, who is the legion’s current president, said the first snowman was a welcome feature when skiers drove in from Thunder Bay to try the local slopes. In those days, the village always had natural snow before the city did.
Eventually, the first snowman deteriorated. Village boosters then began contemplating a more durable replacement supported by metal beams, which is the structure that exists currently.
In the late 1960s, enthusiasts in Minnesota’s North St. Paul got into the act by erecting a similar snowman structure a short drive from Minneapolis.
Thursday’s announcement for Beardmore’s snowman was part of nearly $2 million in provincial funds earmarked for Northern Ontario tourism projects.
