Building of Causeway to the Present
X.114.02
This mural depicts various aspects of civic and cultural life in Cape Breton Island. The artist uses Cape Breton’s official tartan as the backdrop for the images of well-known sites from around the island.
The central image is the atrium of the Cape Breton University Library with students symbolically facing a brighter future. Below is an aerial view of the Cape Breton University campus, as it appeared around 1987 when it was known as the University College of Cape Breton (UCCB). Notice that many of the buildings that make up today’s campus, including the residence buildings, and the Student, Culture and Heritage Centre where you are presently standing, are absent from the painting. The world-renowned Cabot Trail is visible around the periphery of this image, hinting at the growing importance of tourism for the island.
In the lower left is the Alexander Graham Bell Museum at Baddeck. The Highland Village at Iona and the Gaelic College is pictured above it. These sites have also changed considerably since the mural was painted in the late 1980s.
In the bottom right, the Fortress of Louisbourg is depicted as it looked under construction during the 1960s. The Centre 200 arena in downtown Sydney, appears above the Fortress and the Miners’ Museum in Glace Bay completes this cluster of buildings.
The central image at the bottom of the painting depicts the construction of the Canso Causeway, connecting the island to the mainland. Construction of the causeway began in 1952 and was completed in 1955.
This mural was completed with the help of Terry MacDonald of New Waterford.