Construction on a permanent memorial to late Snowbirds Capt. Jennifer Casey near Kamloops Airport is currently underway.
The City of Kamloops has released a rendering of the long-awaited memorial that was announced in May 2021 – a full-sized replica of a Snowbirds Tutor jet that will be made entirely of metallic maple leaves.
The May She Soar memorial at Fulton Field Park – which is expected to be completed by the middle of next month – is how the City of Kamloops officially remembers the tragic crash on May 17, 2020 that killed Capt. Casey, and injured the pilot, Capt. Richard MacDougall.
The crash occurred during Operation Inspiration – the Snowbirds cross-country tour to lift the spirits of Canadians during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We wanted her memorial to help carry on her encouraging mission,” Sarah Holliday, the artist behind the memorial said. “The maple leaves are meant to be a mosaic of our collective grief at the loss of Jennifer Casey, while the branches represent Canadians joining together to lift up the memory of a hero.”
“The three supporting pillars are symbolic of the specific communities that rallied around this tragedy, namely the City of Kamloops (its citizens, officials, first responders, health care workers, and the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc community); Captain Casey’s hometown of Halifax, Nova Scotia; and the Canadian Armed Forces.”
Construction on Fulton Field Park, near the intersection of Tranquille Road and Aviation Way, is taking place in conjunction with the Tranquille Gateway Improvements Project that began last summer.
“I believe [the art work is] coming in three pieces,” City of Kamloops Capital Projects Manager, Matt Kachel, told Radio NL. “It’s quite a large structure, so its going to take them a bit to get it up.”
“We did originally want to put it up last so that we could kind of do not a soft opening, but a full opening but it just didn’t make sense so we’re getting it up now and then there will be some landscaping that has to happen, grass and stuff.”
Kachel says Holliday worked closely with metalworks company Raw Elements Design, which fabricated and installed the monument to Capt. Casey.
“The installation features clean-cut lines, angles, and a modern look, making it consistent with the formal lines of the future Fulton Park design,” Holliday added.
“The shape and sideways lean of the plane resemble a Snowbird high in the sky performing aeronautical maneuvers, which is meant to celebrate the relationship and history between the Kamloops Airport and the Royal Canadian Air Force.”
Plans to build the Fulton Field Park – to honour Kamloops native John “Moose” Fulton, the first commanding officer of the 419 Squadron – have been part in the works for over a decade. Once complete, Kachel says the park will include other amenities including a multi-use pathway, Adirondack chairs, and accessible picnic tables.
“It pays homage to the aviation roots there with Fulton Field and obviously the tragedy that happened with Capt. Casey,” Kachel said.
“We kind of tried to bring that all together, and the artist tried to draw inspiration from all of that, not only for the art piece but also the surrounding landscape.”
– With files from Paul James