The Tunnel of Flags
BY: BG EDITOR
Greenwood Flag Tunnel
Jan 07, 2017 — GREENWOOD, BC (BG)
Within a decade of its founding in 1897, Greenwood, B.C. had reached a population of 3,000 residents, qualifying it for city status according to the standards of that time. While there was already rail access to the region, by 1913 a sizeable community such as Greenwood required road access for the growing automobile market to neighbouring Grand Forks. The road had to be built under a rail trestle, and so a single-lane shell was built under the track, holding up for 50 years before being replaced by a new two-lane tunnel in 1964.
Entrance to the Tunnel
Source: urbanworkbench, Creative Commons 2.0 (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
During that span, Greenwood sank to 200 people as mining in the region died off during the 1920s and 1930s, before slowly recovering over time to the 600-resident level. The old tunnel was filled up and forgotten until a new stretch of road not incorporating a tunnel was built in 1993. During this processes, the old tunnel was rediscovered, uncovered and left standing (now above ground) as a historic structure.
Over the next five years, the strange above-ground tunnel leading nowhere on the side of the road became covered in graffiti from passers-by. Then-mayor of Greenwood, Arno Hennig, decided to counter this by painting over the graffiti with flags from around the world. Hennig eventually turned this project into a community initiative for the new millennium, and by 2000, 210 country flags adorned the outside wall of the tunnel thanks to volunteers.
As of 2011, after of a decade of exposure, the flags are beginning to show some wear and tear. In the above image, flags of Syria, Armenia, and Wales all need assistance in getting rid of ugly blank spots where the paint has chipped away. Turkey's flag also looks quite a bit off. And despite being discarded in 1995, the old white-red-white flag of Belarus (now seen as a symbol of opposition to Alexander Lukashenko's regime) made it onto the wall. There's still a fair bit of graffiti, to be sure (especially on the parts not visible from the roadside). The flags, however, remain intact, and hopefully will be updated and restored at some point. It'd be a shame for all of that effort to make the hand-painted tunnel going away anytime soon.
The Tunnel of Flags
Source: R. Baer, Creative Commons 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0)
The Tunnel of Flags
Source: R. Baer, Creative Commons 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Further Reading
City of Greenwood (2010) — About Greenwood BC Canada. Greenwood, BC, Canada, 12 April 2010
http://www.greenwoodcity.com/
Greenwood Heritage Society (2002). History of the Area. Greenwood Museum
http://www.greenwoodmuseum.com
