HALIFAX – A Halifax man is circulating a petition to make the Wave at the Halifax Waterfront safer for young kids.
Ian Palmer posted a petition on the Change.org website after his three-year old son fell from the crest of the Wave on Sunday evening.
The official petition asks councillors to “put something at the top of ‘The Wave’ to make it safer from falling off, or to slide down the other side.” In a note introducing the petition Palmer suggested a rail as one of the options.
At last count on Thursday, 29 people had signed Palmer’s petition. But the reaction to it around the harbour and at city hall was less than enthusiastic.
No one interviewed at the waterfront wanted any changes to be made to the sculpture.
“It looks nice the way it is. It looks like a wave,” said Bob Green, a tourist from Boston, MA. “It should stay like a wave. It’s not a play ground.”
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Leslie Buckman, a father of three, said his children had been playing on the sculpture just the day before.
“There’s clearly a risk they might fall off, but you know that’s life. As long as you’re sensible about it you should be alright,” he said.
“If you start putting fences around things like that then you’re just going to kill joy in life.”
While the Wave is an art installation, city staff say they understand that climbing it is a temptation few can resist. But HRM Spokesperson Tiffany Chase says just because people climb the sculpture doesn’t mean the city has to give it the same safety features as a playground.
“Last year we did install some rubberized material at the base of the wave as a result of the fact that people continue to climb it in an effort to lessen any injuries that may result,” she said.
“However, that’s not an indication of our support of using it as a climbing structure, and we still encourage people to not use it as such, and to enjoy it as a public art piece.”
Chase added that just across the path from the Wave is a play structure specifically built for children.
Local Artist Donna Hiebert designed the sculpture. She says she’s glad the city is staying it’s ground.
“It’s clearly a sculpture and obviously tampering with it by changing it would number one make it look really ugly and it would also destroy its meaning and intent,” said Hiebert.
“Unfortunately, whoever decided to do this is confused. Ultimately it’s a sculpture, not a piece of playground equipment.”
Palmer did not respond to interview requests.
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