At eight metres tall, “Howard” is the world’s largest garden gnome. And until Tuesday, he was also at risk of becoming the world’s largest homeless garden gnome.
Earlier this month, Howard was given an eviction notice from the Chevron-owned Nanoose Bay property where he’s sat for nearly two decades.
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On Tuesday, Bridget Matewish — granddaughter of Howard’s original creator, Ron Hale — said he’ll be moving to Galey Farms in Saanich.
“He’s not in the best repair and he doesn’t look very nice these days, so I think it will be nice to see him cleaned up and in his former glory,” said Matewish.
Matewish said the decision to move Howard to Galey Farms was made at a family meeting on Monday night, and hinged heavily on the Galeys having the resources and willingness to refurbish the gnome.
He’ll also be getting some serious upgrades.
“They’re going to give him back a garden, they have big mushrooms that they’re going to put him with and they’re planning on building some dragonflies and hummingbirds,” she said.
“And they’re going to make his arm automated so it will move, he’ll wave.”
Howard was originally constructed using only scrap metal and junk, and served as the mascot of a family-run go-kart track and amusement park, before Chevron took over the property.
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The company decided to evict him because of safety and structural integrity issues, raising fears he could return to the scrap heap.
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But after multiple offers, Matewish said the family narrowed new housing options down to a shortlist of five, and now believe he’ll be moved to a place that best suits her grandfather’s vision.
Howard will also be in a place where people can come and take their photos with him, something likely to delight visitors at the Galey Farms’ harvest and pumpkin events in the autumn, she said.
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Matewish said the next steps will be to sort out liability paperwork and then organize a crew to load him up for the big move, which must be done before April 30.
“He comes apart in four pieces, so it’s not so difficult to move him. It just takes craning him apart,” she said.
“It’ll be interesting to see him driving down the road in four pieces. I’m sure his head on a trailer will be interesting for people to see.”
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