Piece of Saskatoon’s old Victoria Bridge becomes work of art

If you’ve ever wanted to own a piece of Saskatoon history, now might be your chance.

A steel chunk from a demolished section of the city’s 109-year-old Victoria Bridge has been turned into art and will soon be up for auction.  

David James is a fifth-generation blacksmith from England and recently attended the EMMA International Collaboration, an art exchange, last weekend at the Ness Creek site. James began working on his piece at the event.

“We’ve got several different people from different disciplines involved in this. Metal work, which is the obvious thing to be involved with a bridge structure. Then we have glass artists and wood artists also involved with it,” James said.

“We’re trying to do an interpretation that shows some of the history of the bridge. We’ll have a glass river running down the center of it, which will represent the position of the bridge held in Saskatoon,” he added.

The piece will also include a port hole which James said will represent the steamship Medicine Hat. In the spring of 1908, the ship ran into the Victoria Bridge.

“We’re trying to represent the history,” James said.

The artwork will be up for auction Thursday in Saskatoon at the Holy Family Cathedral.