Heritage Main Street in Bayfield and Bluewater council have thrown their support behind a new project of the Bayfield Centre for the Arts called Bayfield Sails.
Centre President, Leslee Squirrell says they're applying for a grant from the Federal My Main Street fund and the project they're proposing involves the installation of twelve sail boat structures along a way-finding corridor in Bayfield, as part of a public art installation.
"The sail boats will be made of iron and will be a permanent installation. The sails will be made of lexan, which is a very strong, paintable material and so each year every sail will be assigned to a different artist and will change."
Squirrell adds, one of the really exciting assets to the sail boats is they will have QR codes.
"A really exciting assets to the sail boats is they will have QR codes on the boat itself and each QR code will take the viewer to a source of historical marine information, not only about boats specific to Bayfield, but also the marine history of Lake Huron."
Squirrell explains, the installation of the boats will begin at Clan Gregor Square in Bayfield.
"So they will be installed, starting at Clan Gregor Square, going down Heritage Main Street, Bayfield, to the top of the Mara Walkway, which is the walkway to take people down to the marina and another few down at the marina and out the public pier into Lake Huron."
Squirrell says the boats would measure about six feet from the base to the tip of the sail and Heritage Main Street and Bluewater council have given their permission to install the boats on municipal property if their grant application is approved. She says they have the trades people they need lined up and they should know if their grant application has been approved by mid-March, so their goal is to have the boats installed sometime this summer.
