This ladder's not for climbing: 40 metre-high art installation soars above Vancouver street

"I don't know what it's for," said passerby Alain Bautista on Tuesday, gazing up at the nearly 40-metre tall art installation.

"I don't know, it's kind of weird."

Khan Lee's enormous piece of public art, called 108 Steps, is a giant sculpture of a ladder rising vertically into the air from its base on Kingsway near Nanaimo Street in Vancouver.

Workers were still putting finishing touches on the grey steel installation on Monday — and while it wasn't quite complete, it was already grabbing people's attention.

"Nobody knows really what it is, other than, like, a large extension ladder is what it looks like," said Linden Banks.

"It's just nice," said Becky Driediger, a worker who has been taking part in the construction of the adjacent 398-unit Kensington Gardens condo development.

"I think it's pretty cool. I like it that artists get their chance to be seen and to be heard around the community."

Funded by developer

The condo developer, Westbank, funded the artwork as part of its deal to build in the neighbourhood. Residents will begin occupying suites in Kensington Gardens this week.

"Well, I think maybe somebody's going to climb that, and I think it's not a very good idea," said Debbie Nikola, an onlooker on the street.

For fellow bystander Tony Gaudio, that's not a risk.

"I'm scared of heights. I wouldn't climb it, but I'd admire it. I'd just pass by here and look at it for a while," said Gaudio. "It's not bad; it's actually nice."

The artist doesn't intend for the ladder to be climbed. It will have a five-metre high tempered glass shield protecting it at the bottom.

'Tempting site' for climbers

But just as the towering sculpture invites the eye upward, Lee recognizes that the 108 rungs may also invite determined climbers.

"I realize that whoever really wants to get up there will probably find a way to get up there anyway," he said. "Hopefully people will have some kind of respect [for it] as an artwork."

Jonathan Gormick, public information officer with Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services, has been assured that the sculpture's defence against climbers will be effective — but is aware the risk is still there.

"This would be a tempting site for somebody to climb," he said. "There's obviously an inviting nature to it; it's very exposed, it's high, it's public.

"I'd just like to remind people that it's not worth the risk."

Asked if local firefighters might get any "ladder envy," Gormick laughed.

"Well, of course, we like ladders, especially long ladders," he said, adding that the fire department's aerial platform is equally long, but it can't be extended vertically, so wouldn't reach the top of Khan's artwork.

Gormick said firefighters would have to deploy their technical rescue team to retrieve any climbers that overcame the barrier, which would entail some risk for the crew.

According to Lee, the piece should be complete within a couple of weeks.

He's well aware of the tension created by a huge public ladder that people aren't allowed to climb.

"I believe artwork always has a bit of irony," said Lee.

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