.jpg)
A massive bronze sculpture’s winding path to Whiteside Park is finally complete.
A foundry fire caused a delay, but the 16-foot, better than 1,000-pound sculpture depicting voyageurs was finally erected - in bitterly cold conditions - last week in Ely.
The Voyageurs Canoe Sculpture’s placement marked the completion of a project initiated by Bill Rom, a 1963 Ely Memorial High School graduate.
In a nod to the region’s canoe history and in honor of his parents Bill and Barbara, who once owned Canoe Country Outfitters, Rom commissioned the sculpture completed by Vic Payne.
Rom’s project began with a trip to the Southwest about a decade ago.
“It goes back almost 10 years,” Rom said. “My wife Holly and I were on a trip after skiing in Aspen and we stopped in Santa Fe, New Mexico and visited art galleries.”
In the first gallery they stopped at, the Roms encountered a sculpture of a bronze, birch bark canoe and Bill said “four or five years later I had this idea that I wanted to put a sculpture in Whiteside Park.”
That began a roundabout journey that included locating the artist and securing permission from city officials to place the sculpture in the park.
The project evolved and Rom eventually moved to donate two sculptures for the park - both of canoes.
The smaller sculpture by wilderness artist Bill Mason had already been put in the park but the large one encountered various delays, including some created by the Covid-19 pandemic.
But the project got back on track and plans were made for the large one to be installed in time for the Ely High School All-Class Reunion held last summer.
“It was ready to go and then I got a phone call saying ‘Bill the foundry burned down,’” Rom recalled.
The sculpture was nearly finished but the fire caused damage and the sculpture needed additional work, with completion coming this fall and plans made for last week’s delivery.
Rom said the project entailed “several hundred thousand dollars” in cost, and his donation marks both as a tribute to his parents and a gift to the Ely community.
A plaque will go up in the spring offering more explanation about the sculpture, and there will be a pole with a QR code, so visitors can use their cell phones to get more history about the story of the voyageurs.
City officials had discussed several potential locations for the sculptures, ultimately settling on the flower bed area.
A dedication will be held in July for the Voyageurs Canoe Sculpture with Payne, the sculptor. It is dedicated to Ely wilderness canoe guides and Bill and Barb Rom, the founders of Canoe Country Outfitters and was donated by Dr. William and Holly Rom.
