A look at the St. Catharines memorial dedicated to Neil Peart

The City of St. Catharines recently unveiled a render of a memorial site it plans to dedicate to the late, iconic drummer from Rush, Neil Peart.

Peart passed away on Jan. 7, 2020, at the age of 67. Born in Hamilton, the legendary drummer grew up in the waterfront community of Port Dalhousie in St. Catharines.

A Rock and Hall of Fame inductee, Peart is considered one of the greatest Canadian drummers ever.

Following his death, there was a push to memorialize Peart’s memory, and the city voted to name a newly built beach pavilion in his honour.

The city also created a special task force of local residents, a member of Peart’s family, and city staff to commission a special statue to commemorate his legacy.

Part of the project involves raising $1 million in donations to fund the art installation, for which the city says tax receipts are being issued.

Last month, the city unveiled a rendering of the site which offers a flyby of some of the art it plans to install alongside the pavilion.

It will display two “larger-than-life” bronze sculptures of Peart alongside a series of plaques telling his story.

While still in progress, the artist responsible for the work spoke with CHCH News and offered photos of a maquette (a scale model) of the finalized design.

Slated to be cast in bronze, Morgan MacDonald said there’s still a lot of work to be done and expects its creation to take two years.