GHOSTS OF RED DEER'S DOWNTOWN
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GHOSTS OF RED DEER’S DOWNTOWN
Local citizens, explorers and historians have claimed sighting of Ghosts in Red Deer’s Downtown.
Talk of more friendly Ghosts entering the Downtown is making big news.
The Red Deer Downtown Business Association (DBA) boasts an internationally renowned Bronze
Art collection in Downtown Red Deer, Alberta. The Ghost project is sponsored and managed by
the DBA and is an amazingly unique and fascinating program. The Ghost Project depicts the
history of the community and offers audiences one of the largest life-size bronze sculpture
collections in Canada. The Ghost sculptures are forever growing in popularity and attract
thousands of inquisitive travelers every year.
The Ghost collection combines art, culture, heritage, tourism and economic development into one
project. It includes famous, infamous, the humorous, animals, actions and the events that shaped
Red Deer’s amazing past. Artists from our province have not only created great art, but have quite
remarkably captured the character of our pioneers. Viewers are able to interact with the sculptures.
As an example, Reverend Gaetz often has friends who join him on the bench and often friendly
people have dressed him with a hat or mittens in the cold weather.
Today, there are 8 life size bronze sculptures telling their tales in the Heart of our City. The
sculptures meet three significant objectives:
• Promote and add to the growth of the multi-million dollar Provincial arts industry;
• Preserve our heritage stories in real life images; and
• Create a unique attraction capable of drawing visitors from highway two into the heart of
the community.
The Downtown Business Association commissioned the first Ghost project in 1994. The hope
was to excite the community and kick-off the development of a collection. The success of the first
few Ghosts met the above outlined objectives and set the precedent for sculptures to follow. The
popularity of the Ghosts had also ensured further development of the Ghost collection. As a
result, the latest two Ghost projects were done by community groups with minimal help from the
DBA.
The Ghost project is widely supported by the community including the City of Red Deer, Red
Deer and District Museum, Heritage Preservation Committee, Normandeau Culture and Natural
History Society, Red Deer Main Street Project, Red Deer Service Clubs and the Red Deer and
District Chamber in Commerce just to name a few.
The DBA has developed a series of postcards that depict the Ghosts. These are provided at
tradeshows, the Visitor and Convention Bureau, the Museum Gift Shop and used in several
promotions.
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A Ghost tour has been developed by the Red Deer and District Museum and the DBA, and is
available on the ExperienceDowntownRedDeer webite, DBA office, Red Deer and Area Museum
and Tourism Red Deer.
With the popularity of the collection a guide for commissioning artwork for Ghost Projects has
been established. Interested parties can contact the Downtown Business Association for additional
information on this distinctive and forever growing collection.
Below is a brief description of each Ghost. Currently, there are eight Ghosts in the collection with
more to be released in the coming years.
1) ‘CHOICES’ – In front of the Parkland Square building, you’ll
discover a rail worker confronting a little dog who is standing
on the man’s money. This sculpture tells the story of how
many workers in Canada wanted more control over their
money. As a result, the Credit Union concept of banking
became popular in Alberta in the late 30s and early 40s. The
credit union was run, not for profit, but to serve its members.
No more stepping on the money of the people!
2) ‘REACHING OUT’ - This figure shows two
children helping each other climb onto a large
granite stone. Dressed in typical 1940s clothing,
one child wears a leg brace, the result of polio. The
sculpture was created to help celebrate the 75th
anniversary of the Downtown Rotary Club and to
draw attention to Rotary International’s PolioPlus
program that seeks to rid the world of polio
completely by the year 2005.
3) ‘REVEREND GAETZ’ - The Reverend, one of Red Deer’s early
leaders, appears to be gazing down the Main Street of the town
that he helped to create. He also looks like he’s actively engaged
in a conversation with the viewer. The Reverend would often be
found talking with members of the community on street corners
like this. This was the first ghost to be erected.
Ghosts of Red Deer’s Downtown 2
4) ‘FRANCIS THE PIG’ - The legend of Francis the Pig began
in July 1990 when he escaped from a local abattoir. For nearly
five months Francis roamed throughout Red Deer’s parklands,
avoiding natural predators and several attempts to rescue him.
Sadly, when Francis was finally captured he was injured and
died soon after on a local farm. Francis reminds us that hog
production and processing are important parts of the Red Deer
economy.
5) ‘SOUND THE ALARM’ - In this sculpture, two
volunteer firefighters are responding with great
speed to a call. You can see the tension of the
moment in the men’s faces and the straining
muscles of the horses. This may explain why we
can only see one of the driver’s hands; he is
struggling to control the horses and put on his coat.
“Fire! Sound the alarm!” In Alberta’s pioneer communities, a cry of fire struck fear in the
hearts of the citizens. In no time at all, an entire community might be virtually wiped out
and many lives lost. In the fall of 1904, following a major fire in Red Deer’s downtown,
Town Council passed a bylaw creating a volunteer fire brigade. New equipment was
purchased and eventually a new fire hall was built.
6) ‘FRANCIS GALBRAITH’ - At the north east entry to
City Hall Park, you will find Francis Galbraith, the city’s
first Mayor following Red Deer’s incorporation as a city in
1913. He’s enjoying a cup of coffee while reading his Red
Deer Advocate. The newspaper, which Galbraith founded
in 1906, remains our City’s daily publication. The
Ghosts of Red Deer’s Downtown 3
Advocate sponsored this piece to commemorate its 90th anniversary.
7) ‘KEITH MANN’ –“Let the Music Play” was created to honour the
late Mr. Keith Mann, an internationally acclaimed music director,
founder of the Red Deer College School of Music, Canadian Concert
Band Festival, National Youth Band, conductor of the Red Deer
Royals and Red Deer College Symphonic Winds, and member of the
Rotary Club of Red Deer.
He is shown here in the moment just before one of his concerts. His
baton is raised. A hush is falling on the audience. All of his attention
and focus is on the musicians that he will be leading and the music
that will be created. In the next moment, the magic will begin...
8) ‘HAZEL BRAITHWAITE’ - Family legend has it that
the young Hazel Braithwaite (age 21), determined to
exercise her right to vote during the 1926 federal election,
had to push through a crowd of men who were equally
determined to deny her that right. In the 1965 federal
election, less than 40 years later, she stood as the New
Democratic Party candidate. Her granddaughters speak
of her as a role model. Mrs. Braithwaite believed that
women were meant to be equal in the eyes of the law and
the world. In honour of her work in the community, Mrs.
Braithwaite was inducted into the Alberta Agricultural Hall
of Fame in 1978.
Coming Soon:
Doris Forbes and Mickey the Beaver Ghost
Coronation Park
Ghosts of Red Deer’s Downtown 4
Downtown Business Association
nd
5024 Ross Street – 2 Floor
Red Deer, AB T4N 1Y3
Tel: 403.340.8696
Fax: 403-340.8696
Email info@experiencedowntownreddeer.com
Web: www.ExperienceDowntownRedDeer.com
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