A Wise Ol d Ow l
Tli o firs t inhabitan t
I
t was early o n in construction, when th e blustery
winds of January whipped around th e building
site, that Th e Ow l appeared.
He wa s perched under th e eaves of th e attic
roof o n th e west side of th e Findlay building when
Councillor Gail Johnson spotted hi m during a city
council tour. How long h e ha d lived a t th e site is
uncertain though officers patrolling th e park at
night a decade before used t o talk about owls that
lived in a tree behind th e library an d greenhouses.
It didn't take long fo r The Ow l to become th e
mascot of th e Library Renewal Project. N o on e ever
named hi m o r even knew that
he
might no t be
she.
Usually referred t o in th e masculine, however, he
quickly became on e of th e main topics of conversa-
tion.
"We could have sold hi m many times over,"
says library director Caroline Thibodeau. "We'd take
people through th e building hoping they'd give u s
half a million dollars an d al l they wanted t o see wa s
The Owl."
A screech owl, "h e was very, very cute," sh e
says. "He was here every da y perched b y th e dormer
window." When th e attic area was opened u p for
renovations, h e moved inside where h e seemed
oblivious t o th e construction workers.
Ventilation workers were especially intrigued by
The Owl, perhaps because h e usually perched high
up in th e rafters where they were working.Ow l
stories spread quickly, about ho w he used to fly
around th e attic an d inspect th e work. In reality,
says th e city's superintendent of building operations
Frank Frenza, Th e Ow l wa s always asleep while th e
work went o n around him. Once, trying to ge t some
reaction, a worker pounded th e rafter underTh e
Owl with a hammer, bu t it never budged.
Another story ha s it that a n electrician tookTh e
Owl home with hi m on e day ,Mr . Frenza says. It
disappeared from th e home. "Three days later, it
was back a t th e site."
But when spring arrived, steering committee
chairman Raymond Ullyatt began t o worry about
The Owl's future. "Once w e build over him, he'll
have t o move." So h e contacted David Bird a t th e
Macdonald College raptor centre. Mr . Ullyatt asked
what could b e done t o make Th e Owl's move as
easy a s possible. Dr . Bird donated a nesting bo x fo r
kestrels (hawk-like falcons) which Mr . Ullyatt drove
out t o Ste. Anne d e Bellevue t o pick up . It wa s hung
in a tree a s close a s possible t o th e face of th e
building in th e ne w courtyard. "N o on e eversa w
the ow l go into th e box, s o we don't know if h e uses
it," Mr . Ullyatt says.
Though Th e Owl's habits remain a mystery, hi s
presence lives on . Librarians have named th e
library's automated system fo r th e feathered mascot:
Online Westmount e n Ligne (OWL).
And in th e courtyard beneath th e nestingbox ,
outside th e ne w children's department, sits a life-
size sculpture of an ow l on a rock. Created of stone
by Val David sculptor J.-P. Bisson, i t wa s commis-
sioned b y city council a s a tribute t o library
fundraising chairman David Culver t o b e unveiled a t
inaugural ceremonies.
A symbol of wisdom an d th e mascot of renewal,
The Ow l is legend fo r th e future.
The Owl helps library users
find their way through th e
automated cataloguing
system with this drawing.
34