Giant goose sculpture to be installed atop Gastown building

There is certainly no shortage of geese in Vancouver, but a proposed public art sculpture in Gastown intends to be a statement for their ability to survive in the city’s urban environment.

Local development firm Lowtide Properties has submitted a development permit application to the municipal government to permanently install a larger-than-life sculpture on the rooftop of the heritage office building at 21 Water Street — overlooking Maple Tree Square.

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Although it will be an oversized bird, measuring 10 ft in height and up to 8.5 ft in width, the Gastown Goose is described to be a “realist” representation of a goose.

Artistic rendering of the Gastown Goose on the rooftop of 21 Water Street, Vancouver. (Carvel Creative)

According to the application, the intent of the sculpture is to provide Gastown with another attraction that will help revitalize the district and increase foot traffic, specifically to bring tourists further east of the Steam Clock.

The sculpture is by renowned American contemporary artist Richard Jackson, who “draws on the visual lexicon of domestic environments, universal basic human activities and hallmarks of the quintessential American life such as hunting and sports.”

Carvel Creative, a public art design and fabrication company, is working with Musson Cattell Mackey Partnership on the application.

Location of the Gastown Goose on the rooftop of 21 Water Street, Vancouver. (Google Maps)

The prominent office building is home to the Vancouver studio of Industrial Light & Magic and the headquarters of Lowtide Properties, which is the owner of the building. Lowtide is the real estate and development firm of Lululemon founder Chip Wilson, who has in the past personally contributed funding to secure notable pieces of public art for the city’s streetscapes, including the A-maze-ing Laughter (laughing men) statues at English Bay and the Trans Am Totem of stacked crush cars.

Nearly a decade, Vancouver saw the installation of another “animal on a pedestal” public art sculpture — the seven-ft-tall poodle on top of a 25-ft-tall pole at the northwest corner of the intersection of Main Street and 18th Avenue.

December 2020 condition of the Main Street Poodle in Mount Pleasant, Vancouver. (Google Maps)

You might also like:
• Trans Am Totem sculpture of stacked cars dismantled for repairs and relocation
• New vision for Gastown narrows roads for pedestrian spaces, relocates Steam Clock
• "The city has to step up": Gastown business owner battling rampant theft
• Microsoft adding 500 technical jobs at Vancouver expansion office in Gastown
• Industrial Light & Magic building LED video wall film studio in Vancouver