Montague museum seeks to house Canada Tree

The Garden of the Gulf Museum in Montague would like to be the new home of the massive art project, the Canada Tree.

The tree, which stands close to 10-metres high and weighs more than four tonnes, contains objects from across Canada such as a pencil from Margaret Atwood and planks from the Bluenose II.

Artist Tyler Aspin started the tree in 1997 and finished it in 2001.

He died that same year when he was struck by lightning.

An addition would be built onto the existing museum to permanently house the sculpture, said museum chair Edgar Dewar.

"I have no idea how much it'll cost," Dewar said. "We decided on the concept of putting it in the museum a couple of weeks ago. And now is our chance to go ahead and find out how much it might cost and go for designs and funding."

Dewar said there's concern if a location can't be found for the tree in Montague, it will go to another place.

He said institutions like the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 in Halifax, N.S., and other museums have shown interest in the tree.