A model float plane will grace the entrance to the city’s northern end if the Campbellton Neighbourhood Association gets its way.
The group wants to spruce up the entrance to Campbellton off the Inland Island Highway.
Brian Shaw, chair of the Campbellton Neighbourhood Association, said there is room for a model plane on the north side of the pond along the highway, across the road from the Eagles Hall.
“We have researched and located a number of examples of float planes that have been fixed to a static structure,” Shaw told council May 13. “We’re considering a float plane for the area. We’ve looked at Norsemen planes from various areas. It’s going to be fun. It’s an interesting project.”
The group is having a difficult time, though, trying to find the right pieces.
Shaw said one member has “searched high and low for a decommissioned Beaver float plane and or parts, but thus far we have come up empty.”
But the Campbellton Neighbourhood Association is still forging ahead. Shaw said members have shared design drawings for a DHC-2 Beaver float plane with an aluminum welding company in order to get an estimate as to how much it would cost to build a full scale model.
Shaw said if the model plane does not pan out, the group has a back-up plan.
“If the plan fails we will look at alternative designs which may involve a train engine, a boat, or perhaps a logging truck,” Shaw said.
In the meantime, the association is also exploring possibilities for a river access viewing platform.
Suggestions include a long house configuration with a fishing float or parallel walkway on the river.
“We have a world-class river running through our city, all the work that’s made it a place to recreate is not being used at all – it’s being overrun with weeds (and) of course with trees,” Shaw said, noting you can’t see the river at all from a viewing platform that was constructed about severn years ago due to the thick foliage.
Further Campbellton improvements include a banner project to put up banners on light standards, as well as providing support to the clean-up of Nunns Creek Park.