Spanning the Red Deer River at 58th Street is the old C.P.R. Train Bridge, opened in 1909. Both a municipally and provincially designated heritage resource, the old bridge lives on today as a pedestrian bridge. Retired from railroad service in 1990, the bridge officially became a mixed use bridge and part of a walking trail on September 13, 1992, used by pedestrians, cyclists, and inline skaters. As each passes by they may spot this bench, set on the east side of the path just off the north end of the bridge.
Commissioned in 2011 by the North Red Deer Village Centennial Committee, the bench itself is a sculpture of red masonry intended to emulate a log bench. In the backrest is set a mosaic, commemorating
the old saw mill and train that used to run in downtown Red Deer. The mosaic, created in 2012, was the work of
Voyager Art and Tile. Bench and mosaic were created as a legacy to celebrate the one hundred year history of the Village of North Red Deer, which ceased to exist as an entity in 1948. Beside the bench is a commemorative plaque, shown below. Also below is a quick description of the method used to create their brick sculptures. The link given also details several other brick sculptures created by Voyager Art and Tile over the years.
Brick Sculpture
Influenced by the great Alberta mural maker Jim Marshal, we set out to build large 3 dimensional sculptures that could be carved in our studio and fired in our kilns. In these sculptures we started with wet bricks, carving the form to completion. Each piece was labeled, numbered, fired then cemented together to complete the form. In most instances we added insets of glass mosaic which give a particular vibrancy and shine to the work.
We no longer can make this type of sculpture as our access to wet factory made bricks has been concluded with the closure of the IXL industry in western Canada.
Train Bench – 2012
This brick bench that depicts 3 logs with glass mosaic was commissioned by the Riverside Meadows Historical Association to commemorate the old saw mill and train that used to run in downtown Red Deer. It is located at the end of the pedestrian bridge in Riverside Meadows.
From Voyager Art and Tile
