Terry Fox Memorial and Lookout

The Terry Fox Monument, situated in the outskirts of Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada, is a public monument commemorating cancer research activist Terry Fox's Marathon of Hope.[1] The monument, which depicts Fox is open to the public and offers a panoramic view of Thunder Bay and its surroundings.

Terry Fox Memorial Lookout
Terry Fox Monument
Coordinates48°29′06″N 89°10′07″W
LocationThunder Bay, Ontario, Canada
Completion dateJune 26, 1982
Dedicated toTerry Fox

History
Closeup view of the statue

The statue was created by sculptor Manfred Pervich[2] to mark the place where Fox was forced to stop his run on August 31, 1980. It is not located at the exact spot where he ended the run, however, but is approximately four kilometres (2½ miles) further west;[3] the exact spot where Fox ended the run is noted only by a private marker not readily visible from the road.[4]

The monument was dedicated on June 26, 1982, just days before the first anniversary of Terry Fox's death, by Governor General Edward Schreyer.[5]

Originally located directly along the route of Highway 17,[6] the statue was later relocated to a dedicated park overlooking the highway to accommodate the widening of the highway route.[7]

By 1989, municipal politicians in Thunder Bay were beginning to call for a provincial tourist information centre, with washrooms on site, to be built at the monument due to reports that some visitors to the site were urinating and defecating in the bushes surrounding the site.[8] An information centre was built on the site at the time of relocation.

Following the monument's relocation in the 1990s, several incidents of vandalism were reported on the site, including littering with empty alcohol bottles and hypodermic needles,[9] amethysts being pried off the statue's base,[9] damage to the onsite washrooms,[9] one of the statue's hands being sawed off,[2] and an aborted partial attempt to saw off the statue's head.[2]

Cultural significance

Many later public events have revolved in some way around the monument. On Steve Fonyo's subsequent Journey for Lives run, he stopped at the monument to reflect before moving forward into the part of the run that Fox was never able to complete.[10]

In 1997, a quadriplegic named Dave Shannon stopped at the monument as part of his own cross-Canada trek for disability awareness.[11]

In 2000, Fox's surviving family members held a public event at the monument to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the beginning of Fox's run.[12]

For the Olympic torch relay across Canada prior to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, a cancer survivor named Kailie Kernaghan-Keast was chosen for the leg of the run east of Thunder Bay, with the Terry Fox Monument chosen as the location for her to hand off to the next runner.[13]

References
  1. "Summer road trip; It's still a great way to enjoy sights, people and history". Edmonton Journal, June 28, 2008.
  2. "Terry Fox monument vandalized angers sculptor". Windsor Star, September 13, 1996.
  3. "Fonyo finally out of Fox's shadow". The Globe and Mail, December 1, 1984.
  4. "The trek a hero wanted; On the road not travelled, memories of Terry Fox are fresh and bittersweet". Toronto Star, September 1, 2005.
  5. "Fox is fondly remembered as bronze statue unveiled "Fox is fondly remembered as bronze statue unveiled". The Globe and Mail, June 28, 1982.
  6. "Thunder Bay's Terry Fox monument is a fitting tribute". Inside Belleville, September 15, 2011.
  7. "Terry Fox monument to be moved so road can be widened". Montreal Gazette, August 14, 1992.
  8. "Fox monument now a sewer, MPPs told". Toronto Star, February 6, 1989.
  9. "Terry Fox monument defaced". Vancouver Sun, March 1, 1996.
  10. "Fonyo finally out of Fox's shadow". The Globe and Mail, December 1, 1984.
  11. "Quadriplegic emulates Fox". Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, July 29, 1997.
  12. "Fox family marks 20th anniversary in Marathon of Hope: National hero honoured". National Post, September 2, 2000.
  13. "Cancer survivor reaches Terry Fox monument". Regina Leader-Post, January 4, 2010.
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