Community Leaders Programoutput: title: A 60-year-old landmark: The Big Nickel Mine began as a 'crackpot idea' by a city fireman

The Big Nickel, that gleaming old reliable landmark on the Sudbury horizon, has turned 60 years old.

by the Sudbury誇りCommunity Leaders Program.output: A drone slowly rising into the sky, its camera turned down towards the group gathered below. On this day, July 22, a special Diamond anniversary is being celebrated on a hillside overlooking Gatchell.

The Big Nickel, that gleaming old reliable landmark on the Sudbury horizon, has turned 60 years old.

As the shutter (do drone cameras have those?) snaps, we are instantly transported back in time to Day One, a Grand Opening for an idea, which, for three gentlemen, would represent the City of Sudbury perfectly as our country approached its Centennial year.

On that day, 2,500 local residents and dignitaries were on hand for the official unveiling of the Big Nickel by the Canadian Centennial Commissioner, “Mr. Canada” John Fisher. This was the first centennial project undertaken by a private enterprise where the commissioner had officiated.

He dedicated Sudbury's Big Nickel to the people of the city and Canadians across the world. This moment marked both the culmination of many months of planning and the beginning of an era which would see the Big Nickel develop into a world-renowned landmark.

A band representing the Sudbury Lions Club was on hand to perform at the ceremony. As well, students from the Sudbury School of Ballet performed a dance called the "Big Nickel Twist" to a song composed by a local singing group known as the "Collins Mixers."

The story of our famous landmark and the park where it is situated begins with local man Ted Szilva. The idea of using a nickel as a symbol of the city of Sudbury came from a suggestion by John Fisher, when he was president of the Canadian Tourist Association.

Szilva envisioned a nickel being used in and around the city, in order to promote the area. It wasn't until a local artist and sign maker, Bruno Cavallo, introduced him to the idea of an actual "Big Nickel" monument and not just a two dimensional symbol, that Szilva was inspired to create the numismatic park.

The idea was put forward to the city's Centennial Committee, in 1963, only to be rejected. Szilva was a 28-year-old city fireman when he started his fight with city hall to get his dream erected.

"Mayor Joe Fabbro liked the idea. But the bureaucrats fought it all the way…(because they considered it) a crackpot idea by a city fireman,” said Szilva, during the 30th anniversary year of Big Nickel. But he was so convinced of its merit, that he decided to develop the park anyway.

Szilva teamed up with Bruno Cavallo, Cecil Fielding and John Goodearle to get the project moving forward. Together, they formed the "Nickel Monument Development Corporation Limited" to launch their ambitious and imaginative project as a salute to Canada's 1967 centennial of Confederation. It would become the nation's largest privately developed Centennial project.

Szilva was able to overcome a roadblock put up by the city when it wouldn't give him a building permit. In December 1963, using $50 as a down payment (out of a $1,000 total price), he purchased 17 acres of land from property owner Walter Holditch, just outside the city limits. “I built it three feet outside city limits,” said Szilva.

Here, they would develop their park. Ideally situated on a high, rocky mass of land just beyond the city's western limits, in close proximity to Highway 17. The park overlooked Inco’s Copper Cliff smelter, offering a splendid view, not only of the City of Sudbury, but also of the (then current) three giant smoke stacks, and the pouring of slag.

With the acquisition of this property his monumental plan, which originally included the construction of 18 giant coin monuments and a Canadian one dollar bill, began to take shape. The monuments were to be the main attraction of the park but there were to be other features as well: a nickel museum to house information pertaining to nickel, its discovery, development and uses; a model railroad which children could ride around the park; a world-class coin collection and an authentic model mine where tourists could catch a glimpse of what the life of a miner was all about.

Szilva, as originator of the park project, took up the positions of president and chairman of the corporation. Vice-president of the company was Cecil Fielding, a well-known Sudbury businessman and respected political figure.

Bruno Cavallo was the artistic force of the group. A local Sudbury artist and owner of a sign manufacturing company, he became secretary-treasurer. It was Cavallo who was responsible for the beautiful artistry and workmanship involved in the creation, design and construction of the Big Nickel, along with the other monuments which were eventually erected at the site.

The construction of the Big Nickel took place in Cav

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