STANLEY PARK FALLEN CEDAR TO WELCOME VISITORS TO THE 2010 WINTER GAMES

Update March 12, 2010: You can see the Spirit Tree at the B.C. Pavilion, which is open daily during the Paralympic Games, March 12-21, 2010 from 10am to 5pm. It is located at the Vancouver Art Gallery. Admission is free.

The Spirit Tree was one of 10,000 trees that fell during the devastating winds of the December 2006 Stanley Park windstorm. It was carefully removed from a tangle of fallen timber in one of the blowdown areas left in the wake of the storm to become a legacy of Vancouver's beloved park.

The fallen giant was chosen as one of BC's "ambassadors" to the 2008 Beijing Summer Games. Donated by the Vancouver Park Board, the western red cedar, that was estimated to be about 500 years old when it fell, made the long trip across the Pacific Ocean.

The ORCA Creative Group was contracted to use the tree as a portal to the BC-Canadian Pavilion as part of an exhibit that ran for four months around the 2008 Olympic Games. It was sculpted to create an environment where visitors could experience the tree from "the inside out," echoing the natural aging process of the park's famous Hollow Tree. Panels incorporated inside the tree told the story of the rare Spirit Bear which inspired the design and symbolism of the Spirit Tree.

The Spirit Tree has now returned home to BC. It will stand as the centerpiece of the Immersive Forest, the gallery welcoming visitors to the B.C. Pavilion at Vancouver's 2010 Winter Games. There it will symbolize the cycle of growth and decay that nurtures some of the largest living organisms on Earth, and the industry that built this province's economy.

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