Stormy weather tears down weather vane

Strong winds Sunday are being blamed for taking down a weather vane commemorating Samuel Holland at Charlottetown's Holland College.

Winds that gusted as strong as 82 km/h on Sunday were apparently too much for the weather vane. The 1.2 metre figure on top of it was found on the roof of the Centre for Applied Science and Technology.

"It is obviously a concern. We will not re-install it in its current configuration, or with the current materials," said college vice president Michael O'Grady.

"It will have to be strengthened to withstand something greater than what caused it to fail a couple of nights ago. But I think we are obviously happy that nobody was injured."

Honouring the school's namesake

The weather vane was installed in the summer of 2015 on the cupola of the CAST building in memory of the school's namesake, Samuel Holland, the 18th century surveyor who first mapped Prince Edward Island. The piece that came off the weather vane was a silhouette of an 18th-century surveyor.

The weather vane was built by students, staff and alumni of the college, with assistance from Diversified Metal Engineering.

O'Grady said the weather vane will need some repairs as well as improvements. It will be stowed away for the winter.

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