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http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.brackendaleartgallery.com/HenryYorkeMann.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.brackendaleartgallery.com/History.html&h=428&w=269&sz=117&tbnid=erixhIz0D3EJ:&tbnh=120&tbnw=76&start=3&prev=/images%3Fq%3DHenry%2BYorke%2BMann%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26sa%3DG%26scoring%3Dd
The
dream
alone
entrusts
to man
all his
rights to
freedom.
Design for tower
by
Henry
Yorke
Mann
Brackendale Eagle Aid Station & Data Centre
Story by Patricia Heintzman
As eagle enthusiasts congregated at the Brackendale Art Gallery on the morning of January 9, 1994, many could sense it would be a day to remember. The air was fresh and spirits bright as volunteers set out on the 7th annual Brackendale Winter Eagle Festival Count. Previous festival counts had seen steady increases in the number of eagles, and to most observers there seemed to be even more bald-headed raptors calling the Brackendale area home that winter. Hope was high for a record-setting day.
A few hours later counters with totals in hand began to trickle into festival headquarters at the Brackendale Art Gallery. The evidence in numbers was tallied and a world record 3,769 eagles had been spotted and accounted for. Brackendale and its feathered visitors were now on the world stage and the need to educate, observe, learn about, protect and care for the white-headed visitors was undeniable and even more immediate.
In 1996, after many months of lobbying and promotion by the Brackendale Art Gallery's Thor Froslev, local conservationist and bird advocate Len Goldsmith, and a handful of other dedicated individuals, the Brackendale Eagle Reserve was formed. And with the preservation of 1,500 acres of land along the Mamquam, Squamish and Cheakamus rivers, protection of the Brackendale eagles and their habitat was initiated.
The political progression of this land continued in 1998 when it was designated the Brackendale Eagles Provincial Park (Class A). Permanent and protected eagle habitat had finally been established but the daunting task of ensuring the longevity and sustainability of the entire ecosystem that attracts the bald eagle to the area was just beginning.
In the continuing evolution of the eagles in Brackendale, Thor has conceptualized a new centre for research, data collection, education and emergency care. Although currently only drawings and words on paper, the Brackendale Eagles Aid Station & Data Collection Centre will be a constructive and tangible step in further understanding and preserving these amazing raptors and the environment that draws them. Part research lab and immediate care centre and part art, this unique facility will become an integral aspect of eagle conservation and help in our greater understanding of the complex biodiversity of the ecosystem that sustains this phenomenon, says Thor.
The 15 foot square, 3 story tower will house an aid station that will give injured birds a fighting chance at survival. These birds, under the watchful eye of local veterinarian Stein Hoff, will be assessed, given initial medical treatment and stabilized before being forwarded to rehabilitation centres in the Lower Mainland with the ultimate goal of increasing survival rates of injured, sick and malnourished birds in the area. It could also be a precursor, says Thor, to a full-fledged rehabilitation centre complete with ambulatory, emergency and long-term care facilities.
As a laboratory, the new centre will house a research centre where local and visiting biologists, birders and naturalists can accumulate and assess information about eagles, salmon and their habitat, and all that contributes to the complex and balanced environment needed for healthy animal populations. Its goal will be to contribute to the understanding of the "big picture" so that Brackendale can continue to sustain this unique natural phenomenon and ensure the survival of the eagle's winter home in Brackendale.
Atop this post and beam, west-coast-styled tower will be a 12-foot eagle nest and three bells. The nest is a symbol of creation and the home the eagles have made in Brackendale. And at noon everyday the bells of Brackendale will chime the first four notes of O Canada, a daily reminder of life's delicate balance.
This research centre, aid station and bell tower is the crowning achievement in the eclectic Brackendale Art Gallery, complementing and continuing a "work in progress" that has celebrated art and its relationship to our natural world for more than 30 years in Brackendale.
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http://www.squamishchief.com/madison%5CWQuestion.nsf/0/12021A44F8743BCE88256EE7007CCB3C?OpenDocument
Eagle Tower starts to soar
Monument's architect speaks at BAG Monday
By Tim Shoults
Reporter
A tribute to the eagles is about to rise in Brackendale.
Thor Froslev, curator of the Brackendale Art Gallery, is nearly ready to move on the next phase of his long-planned Eagle Tower Monument.
The massive 36-foot beams of the three-storey tower, designed by renowned architect Henry Yorke Mann, will rise in the very near future - Froslev, as ever, won't say exactly when - under the watchful eye of master builders Steve Ladner and Kirk Stockner.
"They're master builders and I don't use that term lightly, because I know a lot of builders," says Froslev.
While Froslev is coy on the date when the timbers will rise, he will say that Mann himself will be at the gallery Monday night (Aug. 9) for a free lecture and slide presentation.
Mann is the son and grandson of master builders and a graduate of the University of Oregon School of Architecture who has been practicing his art since 1962, designing residences, community centers and sacred places.
Mann's design for the Brackendale Eagle monument is "heavily engineered", featuring post-and-bracket post-Industrial Revolution construction that will allow the monument to withstand an earthquake.
Froslev sees the tower as a landmark for the community of Brackendale and a symbol of the eagles that make their home there. "I'm looking at the BAG as an art piece - a functional art piece,"he said previously. "This place needs the tower to pull all the other pieces together."
One of Froslev's future dreams for the monument is for it to be the site of Squamish's first carillon, with the first four notes of "O Canada" to be played over the community every day at noon.
Activity surrounding the monument continues the following Sunday (Aug. 15) as Brackendale stalwart Valdy comes to the BAG for a special mid-summer benefit concert for the monument, with admission by donation.
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