Fabricator raises awareness for sunken Le Griffon ship

Figure 1
Motorists circling the roundabout in La Salle, Ont., get to enjoy a sculpture paying tribute to the Le Griffon, which sank somewhere in nearby Lake Michigan more than 300 years ago.

What’s 25 feet tall, made of steel, and provides a historic welcome to the town of La Salle, Ont.? The answer is a stunning sailing ship sculpture, engineered and built by Snyder Metal Fabricating in Elmira, Ont.

It’s a recreation of the famous Le Griffon barque (see Figure 1), which was built by the town’s namesake, French explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle. The actual ship, which weighed 45 tons and had seven cannons, was launched on Aug. 7, 1679, but unfortunately sank in Lake Michigan during that first voyage. The ship also is replicated on the town’s logo.

The sculpture is located in the center of the town’s roundabout and cost $50,000.

“We had a previous business contact that recommended us for the sculpture,” explained Ben Snyder, the owner of Snyder Metal Fabricating. “We went through a bidding process and won the work.”

The firm was started by Snyder’s parents more than 40 years ago. Snyder and his wife Kim own and operate the business.

“We all worked in the business 10 years together. It was a great time,” he said.

Sculpture Origins

The team at Snyder started with the town’s logo, focusing the design on the lines of the hull and sails. It was challenging, however, in that only approximate drawings of the ship were available.

“We wanted to recreate as close as possible to the original look of the ship,” Snyder said, “but the problem was that no real pictures existed. The location of the wreckage is a mystery.”

Another designer from the town refined the drawings as Snyder Metal worked on engineered shop drawings and the design of the sculpture’s foundation. The overall design phase took two months and material procurement, fabrication, and installation took another three months (see Figure 2).

During fabrication, the main challenge was using Cor-Ten^® to shape the hull and sails.

Figure 2
The Le Griffon sculpture embarks on its final destination after leaving Snyder Metal Fabricating’s Elmira, Ont., shop.

“The install on a busy roundabout was also challenging,” Snyder added. “Traffic controls had to be put in place for a safe work site. This particular sculpture was quite large and had multiple mounting and installation points to coordinate.”

This was not the first time that Snyder Metal has done sculpture projects, so they had previous experiences to draw on in bringing ideas to life in metal.

Indeed, Snyder Metal has always worked in steel but also uses carbon, stainless, and aluminum on a daily basis. The shop also has worked with titanium and exotic stainless grades for other projects through the years.

The company still uses many of its original suppliers from decades ago, and Snyder said these relationships are very important in getting the right product for the right price within an acceptable delivery time frame.

Snyder Metal’s original facility has been expanded four times over the decades, and by 2007, it had reached its maximum allowable size.

“We looked into some other options, for example buying another company,” he said, “but we decided slow and steady growth was ideal for our type of business. We purchased another facility within close distance to our home plant. We continue to use both and are not looking to expand much more in the near future.”

Skilled labor has always been hard to find for the firm, but finding work has never been a problem. Snyder noted that as long as things need to be built, repaired, or serviced, the company’s talents always will be in demand.

“Many people don’t know how enjoyable it is to build something of value that others want, whether it is a sculpture, a water park, environmental components, or parts for a farm wagon,” he explained. “All the effort we put into our customers’ orders and jobs brings pride and satisfaction.”

It’s safe to say that Snyder Metal is up for more sculpture work in future, should an opportunity present itself.

“We enjoy building challenging metal creations,” Synder said. “Our staff is quite talented, and we like to think we can build whatever an artist or architect can dream up.”

That may be sooner rather than later. The city of Windsor, Ont., for example, is planning to install a sculpture of War of 1812 historical figures General Isaac Brock and Chief Tecumseh at its new roundabout and may also put a sculpture of whisky baron Hiram Walker at another.

Snyder Metal Fabricating, www.snydermetal.com