‘Thank you YYC’: Calgary’s vandalized Chinatown ice sculpture to be rebuilt

The vandalized ice-sculpture in Calgary’s Chinatown Ice Sculpture Showcase (CISS) is going to be rebuilt with the original artist giving them a 50 per cent discount.

“So we spoke to a few people and we kind of got sponsored by a few people … including Frozen Memory which is the ice carver for the ice structure,” said Sukey Wong, Chinatown District Business Improvement Area (CDBIA) administrator and event coordinator.

“Maybe we’ll just do another one, and for the new one, we actually intentionally put thank you YYC … This is to thank this community coming together.”

The original sculpture was vandalized on Feb. 3  at night by a group of teenagers.

“That is the one in front of the Silver Dragon restaurant on 3rd Avenue and Centre Street,” said Wong.

She says the restaurant was notified at 6 p.m. by a customer.

Wong adds The vandalized ice sculpture is one of five sculptures set up in Calgary’s Chinatown to celebrate the Lunar New Year.

She says the sculptures took a lot of hours and effort to set up, with each sculpture taking at least five to 10 hours to carve.

“Cost wise, we actually spent $8,000 for all five of them … just for the structure,” Wong said. “And for all the setup, the equipment, advertising, everything, it has been about $11,000 for this event.”

She says they’ve been setting up the sculptures for the last five years, and vandalism wasn’t something they expected.

Meanwhile, Wong adds she heard this has been done by kids, just for fun, but as a parent, she thinks “it’s really heartbreaking.”

The ice sculptures were set up on Jan. 27, and ready for display on Jan. 28.

The plan is to keep them up for two weeks, weather permitting. The sculptures are sponsored by local small businesses in the area of Chinatown.

This is not the first time vandalism happened in the city recently, as Calgary’s Peace Bridge sustained major damage after it was vandalized last summer. In total, about 70 panels were shattered — with each estimated to cost thousands of dollars to fix.

This incident came after the City of Calgary launched an initiative in an attempt to protect the city’s landmark from damage, where it had opened a “Vandalism Gallery” on the bridge to remind Calgarians of the importance of keeping the the iconic walkway intact, as it represents an attraction for tourists and people across the city.

CDBIA is working with the Calgary Police to investigate, and anyone with information about the incident is asked to call police at 403-266-1234, or leave a tip anonymously through Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

With files from Nadia Moharib