Beloved woodcarver (and his signature wizard hat) will be memorialized in public park
'This park will be a space for art, for community and for remembering Rolf'
A beloved B.C. woodcarver will be memorialized with a public park — complete with a pavilion shaped like his signature wizard hat.
Rolf Heer, who built and resided in Radium's iconic Home of a Thousand Faces until it was destroyed by fire, died in July 2020 at age 66.
Heer was already suffering from terminal cancer when his home was destroyed in a 2018 fire.
He pledged the property, located at the busy intersection of Highways 93 and 95, to the mountain village so it could be turned into a park — something that is now becoming a reality.
Heer's home was a towering wooden structure that jutted out of the earth like a marooned ship. It was covered with faces, each one hand carved by Heer over more than 40 years.
The new park will feature some of his original carvings that survived the fire, as well as a greenspace, children's play areas, and treehouse/pavilion shaped like Heer's hat.
"This park will be a space for art, for community and for remembering Rolf," said Valerie Bracken, president of the radium arts and culture society, in a release.
The park is being designed by Richard and Valerie Bassett of Bassett Associates Landscape Architecture in Calgary, who are donating their services.
The arts and culture society is accepting donations to raise the $1.1 million needed for construction, which is expected to begin in 2022.