GOING, GOING … GONE FOR ANOTHER YEAR. VALIANT EFFORT TO SAVE ‘LEANING TOWER OF GRAVENHURST’

Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com

GRAVENHURST — Andrey Petrov knew it wouldn’t last — at least not all winter.

His tower of power, which took a week to build, lasted exactly a week.

A few more days would have been nice.

But it wasn’t for lack of trying. He gave it the same level of TLC he did in building it — by trying to keep the “Leaning Tower of Gravenhurst” upright yesterday.

Cold weather last week kept the 17-foot high Peace Tower on his 34-foot-wide Parliament Building upright for all to see. And hundreds were lucky enough for a drive by to witness his award-winning expert sculpting talents.

But by the end of the week she was listing a little south — as if taking a well-deserved bow.

It did turn out to be a curtain call for the magnificence that would have been appreciated at any Quebec winter carnival or ice fest this week.

At high noon Saturday he knew he had to act fast to try and save it.

So, with the same shovel and ladder he used to built it up he was out on his front lawn chipping away at the back of the tower in a valiant effort to see if a notch or two would allow the softening of the sun to let it sit back on his original 136 blue box-piled perch.

Great idea. Good attempt.

But like Humpty Dumpty as he worked away his efforts were for naught as his magnificence came tumbling down.

And it was Mother Nature and not truckers who ultimately took it down.

Yet, as he surveyed the snowy rubble later in the afternoon he was philosophical.

What goes up must come down, he lamented.

But he won’t give his peace tower another chance — not at least this year.

Whatever he niche he opts to carve out for himself next winter will be tough to beat.

Here’s hoping the weather is a little nicer come ’23.

Tom Bruin did his optical illusion best before noon to keep the ‘Leaning Tower of Gravenhurst’ from tumbling down.
Take a bow. At curtain call she was still an engineering marvel, a thing of true beauty that would be appreciated at any Quebec winter carnival or ice fest.
No matter what angle you looked at it, to the week it ended it was such a marvellous creation while it lasted.
Nikolas Petrov, 5, waves bye-bye to his dad’s latest, greatest carving creation.

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