Watch above: Global catches up with the man behind the brush at the top of the Calgary Tower.
CALGARY – If you’ve noticed a certain shine to the Calgary Tower, it may have something to do with the fresh coat of paint that’s been applied over the last 15 days. Kyle Semenchuk is the man behind the brush strokes, after his employer, Campbell Decorating Incorporated, won the bid to rejuvenate the red.
“It’s a little scary at times,” admits Semenchuk. “But once you’re out here and get used to it, you kind of just do your work and don’t worry about it.”
Armed with a harness and a paintbrush, Semenchuk says he was a little nervous about the job. He’s painted buildings before, but he’s never hung this high above the city.
“Every once in a while you hear a horn, and look down, and you’re like, ‘Woah!'”
Semenchuk is using a high solids polyurethane paint in the first time the tower has been touched up in nearly a decade. By going over each stoke a few times, this latest coat should last another 10 years. But when you’re slapping on the aptly named ‘safety red’ paint 180 metres in the air, you don’t want to send splatter flying from a city staple.
Originally named the Husky Tower, the structure was built in 1967 to celebrate the Canadian Centennial. While its name and surroundings have changed, the tower remains one of Calgary’s Crown jewels. So giving it a fresh coat also comes with a feeling of warmth.
“There’s a certain sense of pride that comes with painting an iconic piece of our city, which makes me feel pretty cool.”
But when it’s a lightning rod for tourists and a beacon of pride for locals, it’s one paint job where you don’t want to miss a spot.
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