Those who envisioned a labyrinth in Collingwood before it was built, enjoyed an outdoor lunch on the winding, paving-stone pattern to mark the fifth anniversary of its completion.
George Christie, Jack Marley, and Diane Wilson were among the original group of about a dozen people who raised funds and petitioned council to let them build the feature.
In January of 2014, Christie brought the idea to council for the first time. He was inspired by a trails conference he attended in the US.
Marley and Wilson helped raise funds and by some stroke of luck, the group was allowed to start site work before raising all the money necessary to complete the project.
“We had $25,000 to start the base,” said Marley. “The theory was to build it and they will come. Once people could see something happening, the donations came in.”
The group gathered donations from $20 to $20,000 for the project.
Another part of the early project included educational sessions to help people learn what a labyrinth was and how it was different from a maze. Wilson helped organize those sessions.
The stones used to make the labyrinth were ones that had been removed from Hurontario Street during reconstruction.
The group salvaged 27,000 bricks to create a design inspired by the labyrinth at Chartres Cathedral in France.
Along the way, construction had to be halted due to nesting turtles.
The group was inspired by the delay and approached metalsmith John McCaffrey to create a turtle sculpture for the site.
‘Florence’ overlooks the labyrinth site today from the water side. She is named for another labyrinth volunteer, Flo.
Both Flo and McCaffrey attended the five-year anniversary celebration along with Wilson, Christie, Marley and a few others on Oct. 8. The group spread out around the labyrinth to enjoy their packed lunches and mark the occasion together.
Wilson will credits the labyrinth to Christie, and Christie gives her all the credit. Both agree it took the whole team to accomplish the work.
“It’s bigger and far far better than my original contemplation,” said Christie.
You can walk the Collingwood Labyrinth at Harbourview Park, it is located at the waterfront near the arboretum and is accessible from the Harbourview trail, the boardwalk trail, and the arboretum trail. It is accessible by car at the north end of Hickory Street.
