Toronto might get weird new statue of injured elephant in bathtub

Yes, you read that headline correctly — a statue of an injured elephant hanging out in a bathtub could soon grace a major Toronto intersection.

And while you absorb that very absurd sequence of words, let me assure you, I can explain everything.

Toronto may have shaken off its 20th-century reputation as a boring town that chained up swing sets on Sundays, and has developed thriving culture and art scenes — though not without challenges. 

The development boom that has reshaped the city skyline is often dealt its fair share of blame for the loss of venues and landmarks, along with rising home prices, but policies like the City's public art requirements and community benefit charges for new developments continue to strong-arm builders into injecting a little bit of whimsy into these otherwise monotonous walls of glass.

A July update to a previous 2024 development application seeks to replace a government office building at 135 St. Clair Ave. W., located at the southeast corner of Avenue Rd. and St. Clair, with a new 49-storey rental tower.

The proposal from developer Fitzrovia and Hariri Pontarini Architects — which is on track to gain approval at City Council this month amid organized opposition from the community — boasts renderings showing a particularly eye-catching sculpture at its base.

The bizarre sculpture of an elephant with a bandaged trunk, standing in a bathtub for whatever conceivable reason, is noted in planning documents as "playful and interactive private art, design of which remains outstanding." 

While this statement casts some doubt as to whether this is a firm plan or a placeholder design, architectural plans (which are afforded much less in the way of artistic liberties) very clearly show the elephant installation's unmistakable outline.

And if that wasn't convincing enough, landscape plans from CCxA — the same design firm behind Toronto's iconic Berczy Park dog fountain and forthcoming cat-themed park off King West — elaborate on the elephant sculpture plans with additional images of the project's planned corner plaza.

These landscape plans also specify that the corner art piece is a work "to be developed," though the model presented in the current proposal feels a bit too intentional to be an undeveloped placeholder.

So, while the final plan may still be undetermined, the vision we have into the drawing board today undoubtedly brings a whole new meaning to the term bathing trunks.

If a statue of an injured animal seems completely out of left field, you may be surprised to learn that this would not stand as the first such installation in the city.

Toronto already has a statue of a donkey wearing casts on its front legs, installed as the public art component of a condominium development at Bay and St Mary streets.

Known as Primrose, the public art piece from Canadian artist Myfanwy MacLeod is inspired by a very real baby donkey of the same name, born prematurely in 2012 in Shropshire, England, who required a pair of pink casts to straighten her underdeveloped leg bones.

The history of the weird donkey statue with casts in Toronto https://t.co/HMEuMBBqAo #Toronto #Donkey pic.twitter.com/XVJYq9Hay0

— blogTO (@blogTO) October 4, 2020

While there is an element of sadness to this injured animal frozen in time, perhaps locals will take some comfort in knowing this lone donkey may soon have another whimsical friend designed around similar themes not too far away.

So, stay weird, Toronto.