Mayor Patricia Heintzman says winter clearing operations and freeze-thaw may have contributed to the damage.
After a tough winter, a portion of the Stan Clarke Park mosaic might be relocated to prevent further damage.
The Squamish Public Art Committee has been working on a solution to the damage since last spring, when winter freeze-thaw events and snow clearing operations resulted in chips and pieces breaking off.
“Particularly in the area where people walk, it was getting quite roughed up,” said Heintzman.
“When the park was redesigned, unfortunately, the walkway went right through the mosaic. We didn’t really think about the wear and tear on it.”
The public art piece was created in 1998, when a group of 15 students asked businesses, organizations, families and individuals to buy the mosaic squares as donations to help build the project.
The project cost a total of about $110,000.
The different squares in the arch-shaped mosaic represent different parts of the Squamish community.
“It’s a real snapshot of the town at that time, every community group and rec group had their own little tiles. It’s quite fantastic some of it,” said Heintzman.
Close to two decades later it is beginning to show signs of damage.
The recommendation from trained mosaicist Cathryn Atkinson in March was to restore the mural in summer 2017, or by 2018 at the latest.
“Hopefully we’ll keep the damage minimal this year and in the spring we’ll rehabitate it,” Heintzman said.
“We value this, we think it’s an important piece of public art, so we want to figure out how to preserve it as best we can.”
The temporary solution has been covering the damaged portion in plywood.
In the spring, the committee is planning to take action to restore or move the damaged area.
Heintzman said there’s concern that an expensive restoration of the project could result in the same situation in a few years if the mural remains underfoot.
She said the committee will be looking at the options to lift a portion of the mosaic and find a suitable public location for it.
