January 31, 2022

DON’T TELL THE TRUCKERS … BUT THERE’S A HUGE PARLIAMENT BUILDING IN GRAVENHURST

GRAVENHURST — It’s about as wide as his house and almost as tall.

Andrey Petrov’s latest, largest and most difficult snow sculpture of Canada’s Parliament Building 17 feet tall — plus a Canadian flag on top — and 34 feet wide.

It’s 8,000 pounds and took 136 blue boxes worth of snow — each weighing 60 pounds.

And a week to build; that’s faster than the feds are taking to renovate the real deal in Ottawa.

So what were you doing on the coldest night of the year with the power out in Gravenhurst.

Petrov was using a laser to keep a straight line across his annual and ambitious project.

He said about half the work was piling snow and the rest was carving the dozens of window.

He said the cold weather helped him keep the Peace Tower from becoming a leaning tower. The square centre piece is alone 13 feet high to the platform with the clock and the flag.

But with the weather warming the next few days, best to see his results before they melt.

He’s already had lots of vehicles drive by his home at Hotchkiss and Mary streets, beside the high school and public school just off the Muskoka Road main street.

But he laughed there haven’t been any sight of truckers.

“I built it before the protest,” he said Monday afternoon.

Petrov has been sculpting at his home for close to a decade and has won several winter carnival ice sculpture awards.