The Bower neighbourhood in Red Deer has a less-than-scenic new landmark.
A public light standard on Barrett Drive that was hit by a vehicle in February has been left leaning at a precarious angle all these months.
The eyesore has become such a neighbourhood fixture that an anonymous graffiti artist has tagged the pole “The Leaning Tower o’ Bower” in white paint.
That someone else might be getting exasperated with the situation doesn’t surprise Louise Boutilier, who called the City of Red Deer’s Electric Light and Power Department again last week to ask what’s up with the long-awaited repair.
“I was told they were pretty backed up,” said Boutilier, who previously heard that city workers were waiting for the frost to come out of the ground before replacing the light standard.
“They said they couldn’t do it until spring. But it’s summer now and we still have no pole,” said Boutilier.
Her neighbour, Grant Gosse, remembers when it was struck “back in the winter . . . I assumed it would be fixed. And I still assume it will be fixed,” said Gosse, who noticed the graffiti added last week, presumably by someone with a sense of humour.
Doreen Young, who lives next door to Gosse, called the city in March and was told they were waiting for “something on order.”
“I keep looking at it, hoping it doesn’t tip over or something. It’s so tilted that I worry about people walking under it,” said Young.
But the City of Red Deer Electric Light and Power manager Ligong Gan said there’s no public safety hazard — the leaning pole is very stable.
It normally would have been fixed months ago, said Gan, had the pole been the usual nine-to-12-metre length of municipal light standards in new neighbourhoods.
But since Bower is an older area, an “irregular” 7.5-metre length is needed. And that takes a special order, said Gan, who noted at least three shorter light standards are on order to replace damaged ones around the city.
Gan was originally told the shorter poles, ordered from a Canadian manufacturer, would be in by May, when the ground was frost-free.
He was later told it will be June, so Gan is still expecting to receive them by next week.
Boutilier will be glad to see the damaged light standard replaced, so the area in front of her home can be lit up again at night. “We’re really in the dark now.”
lmichelin@www.reddeeradvocate.com