Empty - for just a bit

Today was a big day that we had been waiting for. The driveway and parking lot were plugged with the three full forty-foot containers plus more than fifty finished features. More pieces were being finished each day to add to the collection. Many of the pieces were pushed to the back lot behind the building to make room for the giant sixty-ton crane and the long semi trucks that needed to back into the driveway one by one. It took about three hours to set up the crane and load the three containers, more than sixty thousand pounds in all. After weeks of being plugged up tight the yard suddenly looked positively empty.

All that of course will change in a hurry tomorrow as two more giant empty containers arrive.

Best Sign Systems of 2015

Almost thirty-five years ago I picked up Signs of the Times magazine's annual contest issue at my local sign supplier. As I perused the glossy pages of the magazine I wondered at the winning entries. I promised myself that some day our work would be good enough to be judged by my peers and be good enough to appear there. I first worked up the courage to enter our  signs in the prestigious sign contest in 2005. To my amazement we were awarded an honorable mention that year in the illuminated signs category. Since then we have been honored many times in various categories.

This past year we only finished one project which we of course entered into the Signs of the Times contest. Today it became official. Our team was again honored with a first place (tied) award in the Sign System category for the Cultus Lake Adventure Park signs.

“First Place (Tie)
Fabricator/Designer/Installer
Dan Sawatzky
Imagination Corp.
Chilliwack, BC, Canada
(604) 823-2216
www.imaginationcorporation.com
Client
Cultus Lake Adventure Park

British Columbia-based theme parks, miniature-golf courses and other regional attractions are fortunate such a gifted artisan as Sawatzky is available to build their signs. His combination of whimsy and craftsmanship is a rare treasure. Sawatzky worked with Chris Steunenberg, Cultus Lake’s owner, to build the infrastructure and substructures required for the signs. To build the signs’ foundation, they constructed ¼-in.-thick, steel pencil rod that’s welded into armatures, which were installed over structural-steel subframes. Installers tied galvanized-steel lath over the armatures, and then troweled on Sawatzky’s proprietary mix of fiberglass-reinforced concrete. Dan sculpted smaller elements using Abracadabra sculpting epoxy.
After the concrete cured, the team brushed on three coats of General Paint’s acrylic house paint, and, later, three coats of custom-mixed, acrylic glazes. Sawatzky designed the sign panels using SA Intl.’s EnRoute software, and cut the panels with his MultiCam 3000 CNC router.”

The inside of the mountain

Back when we first designed our first concrete project in 1990 I knew pretty much how things would look on the outside, or at least I knew we could figure it out. What I didn't know was how we would build the inside. There was only one thing we could do. It was time for a trip to Disneyland for some education.

I knew answers that were hidden there were hard to find for they don't like to reveal the magic. I clearly understood that. But I just knew the answers were there if I could somehow get a chance to look. Splash Mountain had recently opened and as luck would have it just as we clanked our way to the top of the giant drop the ride stopped dead. They were still working out the bugs and some little fault had stopped the ride. We waited quite some time while the ride operators tried to work things out to no avail. The other guests were disappointed when they decided to walk us out. I was delighted. In those few minutes I learned all I needed to know about the inside of mountains.

Today our crew worked their magic to add the sculpted concrete to three large pieces of the mountain. It was indeed pure magic to watch the rock and timbers come to life in a relatively short time. While the outside was beautiful, the inside of our little mountain looked very much like the mountain I had seen so long ago.