The Yukon was made famous by Robert Service’s Cremation of Sam McGee.
So, does anyone else see the irony in public opposition to a crematorium in Porter Creek?
It suggests the community’s profound lack of imagination. But, of course, there is a history of strange things done beneath the midnight sun…
Some Porter Creek residents are angry about the development, which is proposed for Twelfth Avenue and Centennial Street.
They call its six-metre smokestack an eyesore, forgetting that Sudbury’s prodigious Inco stack is a tourism draw.
As well, forgetting that a funeral home is probably the quietest neighbour you could hope for, they cite concerns about the occasional rumble of the facility’s blast furnace.
And, of course, there are the clouds.
Apparently at minus 30 — with the air’s ability to absorb water vapour diminished — the crematorium’s stack will send a plume of angel-white steam towards the heavens.
That could be considered a tad icky. It will certainly serve as a visible reminder of the dead.
Heck, if residents look closely enough they might even see creepy phantom faces coalesce in the mist. Spooky.
And concerned residents suggest the vapour will occasionally cloak the neighbourhood in a dense, visibility-reducing fog.
Of course, who’s to say it’s fog. It might actually be the physical manifestation of the departed — real ghosts.
Or, maybe it is fog. That can be equally unsettling, especially if you’re a fan of scary movies.
The possibilities are enough to make the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end.
Of course, that’s been well documented by Service as well: “The Arctic trails have their secret tales/ That would make your blood run cold….”
All of which bolsters the case that Heritage North Funeral Home’s project represents a tremendous opportunity for Whitehorse, and Porter Creek.
It could be a fantastic tourism draw.
And if Heritage North has any imagination at all, it will be called the Alice May Crematorium. (RM)