Parents of five young Calgarians hope that the newly opened Quinterra Legacy Garden will be a space for the community to heal, reflect, and explore their creativity.
The South Glenmore Park garden is a space dedicated to the memory of Lawrence Hong, Josh Hunter, Kaiti Perras, Jordan Segura and Zack Rathwell. They are five young people killed in April 2014 at a Brentwood house party.
“This is the legacy we wanted to create for our children,” said Barclay Hunter, Josh Hunter’s father.
“We hope that this place will serve for all Calgarians as a beacon of hope and possibility. A place of joy connection inspiration, creativity, reflection and healing.”
The garden is full of musical instruments to honour the legacy of the five.
At its opening Oct. 15, musicians were on location to play and showcase the instruments.
Sheila Taylor with the Parks Foundation Calgary, said the permanently placed instruments are not only new to Calgary, but are different for parks all over Canada as well.
“In East Village there’s a park that has an instrument here or there,” she said.
“But this has over a dozen instruments so it’s really quite unique.
Two of the young people who were lost in the tragedy were musicians. The families wanted the Legacy Garden to reflect creativity and art.
A community coming together
The garden was brought to life after around $650,000 in donations was collected from the community, sponsors, and partners.
Hunter said that it wouldn’t have been possible without the effort of the community.
“We live in such a strong community,” he said.
“Without the Parks Foundation support and guidance, we would not have been able to realize our dream of building Quinterra.”
He also thanked the other organizations and individuals, “literally numbering in the thousands” that contributed to the project.
Hunter said the group wanted to dedicate the Legacy Garden, and all the good things that will happen here, to the community. And a special dedication to Lawrence, Zack, Jordan, Kaiti, and Josh.
The garden is expected to be unveiled to the public at a bigger even sometime in June of 2021.
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