Thursday, October 5, 2017

Day 28 - Sudbury ON to HOME

October 2017

The final thing on this bucket list was the Giant Nickel in Sudbury. Not on John's, he had no idea what I was talking about. After some trial and error with the address we find it.

It was this foggy when we got up!


The Bridge of Nations



The Inco Superstack with a height of 380 metres (1,250 ft), is the tallest chimney in Canada and the Western hemisphere, and the second tallest freestanding chimney in the world after the GRES-2 Power Station in Kazakhstan. It is also the second tallest freestanding structure of any type in Canada, behind the CN Tower but ahead of First Canadian Place. It is the 40th tallest freestanding structure in the world. The Superstack is located on top of the largest nickel smelting operation in the world at Inco's Copper Cliff processing facility in the city of Greater Sudbury.




The Big Nickel is a nine-metre (30 ft) twelve sided replica of a 1951 Canadian nickel, located at the grounds of the Dynamic Earth science museum.


The idea for the Big Nickel began in 1963 when Ted Szilva, at the time a 28-year-old City of Sudbury fireman, read in the Sudbury Star of a contest, sponsored by the Sudbury Canada Centennial Committee (Maurice Lacourciere, Chairman), asking Sudbury residents how the City should celebrate the upcoming Canadian Centennial. Szilva put forward the suggestion for a major tourist attraction featuring a giant replica of a five-cent coin, an underground mine and a mining science centre. Szilva’s idea was rejected because the committee felt that "it did not have sufficient use for the citizens of Sudbury as such".


By this time, Szilva had independently researched his idea, and had concluded that it could indeed be a viable and worthwhile project. He began to make this dream a reality by scouting out the highest hills in Sudbury to find the best location. On December 11, 1963, he purchased 17.5 acres (7.1 ha) of land from Walter Holdich for $1,000.00 with a $25.00 down payment. The land was ideal because of its unique location between Sudbury and Copper Cliff. To the west, the large, rocky mountain provided a sensational view of the INCO mining and smelting complex.


After the land was acquired, the city refused to give Szilva the building permit for the monument, or a road allowance for access to the landlocked property, so he visited the president of INCO, John Pigott, and requested a lease for 4 acres (1.6 ha) of adjacent INCO land in Copper Cliff. This acquisition would ensure that Szilva would have access to his land. INCO did lease the requested land, for 99 years at $1.00 per year. Eventually he bought the leased land from INCO, in addition to another 15 acres (61,000 m2). Szilva contracted a firm to build the Big Nickel road, and Pioneer Construction paved the new road. The Big Nickel was eventually built on the crest of the hill, three feet outside of the city of Sudbury limits in Copper Cliff Ontario, which did not require a building permit.


And now the tourists flock to get photos, there were two tour buses already there when we arrived.


There was a huge pumpkin display outside the museum, which was closed which seemed odd to me. It turned out that it was closed for Halloween preparations and would reopen October 6.






Time to get home!










This is why it takes so long to get through northern Ontario!


  
Muskoka extends from Georgian Bay in the west, to the northern tip of Lake Couchiching in the south, to the western border of Algonquin Provincial Park in the east. Located approximately a two-hour car drive north of Toronto, Muskoka spans 6,475 km2 (2,500 sq mi). Muskoka has some 1,600 lakes, making it a popular cottaging destination.

The name of the municipality derives from a First Nations chief of the 1850s. Lake Muskoka was then the hunting grounds of a band led by Chief Yellowhead or Mesqua Ukie. He was revered by the government, who built a home for him in Orillia where he lived until his death at the age of 95.

We reach the 400 highway a four lane nightmare into Toronto.

Day 13 - Port Angeles WA to Victoria BC Sidney BC
Day 14 - Victoria BC
Weekend Reflections Victoria
Thursday Doors Victoria
Butchart Gardens Victoria
Butchart Gardens part 2 Victoria
Craigdorroch Castle Victoria
St. Andrew's Cathedral
Day 15 - Victoria BC to Olympia WA
Monday Mural - Port Angeles
Weekly Recap
Day 16 - Olympia WA to Vancouver BC
Shadow Shot Sunday - Chihuly  Seattle WA
Chihuly Glass and Gardens Part 1
Chihuly Glass and Gardens Part 2
Weekend Reflections Seattle WA
Weekly Travel Theme COSY Vancouver
Souvenirs BC
Day 17 - Vancouver BC to Kamloops BC
Monday Mural - Kamloops
Thursday Doors Kamloops
Day 18 - Kamloops BC to Jasper AB
Day 19 Jasper AB to Edmonton AB
Day 20 - Edmonton AB to Medicine Hat AB Drumheller AB
Monday Mural Medicine Hat World's Largest
Day 21 - Medicine Hat AB to Regina SK
Shadow Shot Sunday Regina
Thursday Doors
Day 22 - Regina SK to Brandon MB
Day 23 - Brandon MB to Winnipeg MB
Day 24 - Winnipeg MB to Dryden ON
inSPIREd Sunday Steinbach Mennonite Village
Mennonite Quilting  Steinbach Mennonite Village
Weekly Recap
Day 25 - Dryden ON to Nipigon ON
Nipigon Murals
Friday Finds
Day 26 - Nipigon ON to Sault Ste. Marie ON
Say 27 - Sault Ste. Marie ON to Sudbury ON
Weekly Recap
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Location: Sudbury, ON, Canada

2 comments:

  1. William KendallOctober 5, 2017 at 7:15 PM

    I've been to the Nickel on a couple of occasions. It is quite a sight to see.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousOctober 5, 2017 at 9:57 PM

    I like the nickel, and so it seems do rather a lot of people. The pumpkin carvings are brilliant.

    ReplyDelete

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