A piece of art marks the entrance to Montreal for travellers using the freshly revamped Highway 10.
The ten-metre tall sculpture 'Source' has been erected at the end of the Bonaventure Expressway as part of Montreal's 375th celebrations.
“This work will mark the entrance to the downtown area of Montreal in a masterful way and will contribute to the image of our metropolis,” said Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre in a news release.
Acclaimed Spanish sculptor Jaume Plensa hopes his work will bring new life to the edge of Griffintown.
"Sometimes you must breathe a certain soul in a street or an urban context to push people to be together," said Plensa.
source: City of Montreal
Plensa was very happy to see his sculpture finished -- and installed at the transition from highway to urban boulevard.
"It's always very moving when you finish a project, because it's the moment the piece is not owned by you any more it's owned by the people living in the city," said Plensa.
The reality is the sculpture is owned by the Chretien-Desmarais family, which has loaned the work to the city of Montreal for 25 years.
"We want Montrealers to really feel like they like the art. So this way they have time to acclimate themselves decided if this is part of the landscape," said France Chretien Desmarais.
"We will see see what the future holds, but I doubt that this will find it's way into my living room eventually," she laughed.
The city paid $500,000 for the transportation and installation of the statue.
Coderre pointed out the statue is the finishing touch on a $141 million construction project that began six years ago.
"We started in 2011 and and now it's competley finished. We finished on time and on budget as well," said Coderre.
