As this year's Great World Championship Bathtub Race takes place, a nearby Nanaimo landmark will be celebrating a milestone anniversary.
Thirty years ago, on July 23, 1994, the Admiral of the Fleet statue, a bronze likeness of former Nanaimo mayor Frank Ney, was unveiled at Sway' A' Lana Lagoon at Maffeo Sutton Park.
Longtime Nanaimo resident Marilyn Sullivan remembers approaching the city after Ney's death in 1992 and receiving permission to pursue planning for a statue.
"I put together a committee of people that cared about Frank and we started to fundraise," Sullivan told the News Bulletin. "The Daily Free Press at the time had a thermostat on the front page every Friday, and we raised in the end $125,000."
Renowned bronze sculptor Jack Harman was then enlisted to mould Admiral of the Fleet, which Sullivan said was a big score. According to information from Nanaimo Archives, the artist's resumé included the Harry Jerome statue and the immortalization of Roger Bannister and John Landy's Miracle Mile in Vancouver. He was also responsible for a pair of works in Ottawa, a statue of Queen Elizabeth II on Parliament Hill and Reconciliation: The Peacekeeping Monument.
The statue of Ney in pirate garb, something he was known to dress in, faces away from the waterfront and that placement was intentional, Sullivan said.
"Somebody [asked] 'Why is it the way it is?' and I said because Frank would never turn his back on the city," she said.
Part of Nanaimo literally went into the statue as well, as material for the base came from a sandstone quarry on Saysutshun.
"Jack Harman came over and we actually went on a little barge and [Gorosh Cranes] had a machine there for us ... We went and looked at all of the rock that was there and he said, this piece would be perfect."
More than 400 individuals and businesses donated to the effort, Sullivan recounted, from as far away as the United States, which she said was amazing given there was no social media at the time.
"To me, it's important for people to know how that statue actually became," said Sullivan. "Most people think the city built it and in actual fact, it didn't; the people of Nanaimo built it and we worked hard to make that happen. I think it's a legacy for Nanaimo."
Part of the money raised was given to Vancouver Island University for scholarships. According to VIU, the money created the Frank Ney Memorial Entrance Award and the Frank Ney Memorial Bursary, a pair of $750 awards granted annually.
In an e-mail, the city said maintenance of the statue primarily consists of an annual power washing, although the sword has been broken and replaced over the years.
Sullivan said Ney was always very willing to help people and would go out of his way to do so.
"I always thought that it was important that he be recognized in the city for what he did," she said. "I’ve been here for 50 years and he had already accomplished a lot by that time. I think it was just very appropriate at the time for us to build that statue."
This year's Great International World Championship Bathtub Race takes place Sunday, July 28, starting and ending close to the statue of Frank Ney.
For more information, visit www.bathtubbing.com.
