Hometown Memorial For Neil Peart Supported By His Family
via CBC Music/YouTube
A Fitting Tribute
Thousands of Rush fans have signed a petition for the creation of a memorial dedicated to legendary drummer Neil Peart in Lakeside Park in his hometown of St. Catharines, Canada. And it has the support of his family too. Tony McLaughlin, a Rush fan and St. Catharines resident, launched the online petition last week to have the sticksman “honored with a plaque or statue” and it already has over 25,000 signatures as of this writing.
Addressing Mayor Walter Sendzik and The City of St. Catharines, McLaughlin wrote: “Speaking on behalf of myself and many others in the community of St. Catharines, we would like to see some sort of plaque or statue to commemorate the drummer of Rush, Neil Peart, in Lakeside Park.
“Neil spent a lot of his youth in Port Dalhousie as can be heard in the famous song he penned “Lakeside Park,” what an amazing tribute it would be to him to have this placed there.
“We’re all very proud of his accomplishments after he made that fateful audition in Toronto back in the 70’s. If we all pull together, we CAN make this happen. With his untimely passing recently, this needs to be done even more so now. Please sign the petition, and let’s all make some change. Thank you.”
According to St. Catharines Standard, Peart’s nephew Jason Howe said that his family are “fully on board” regarding the memorial plans. He also added that “They think it’s a great honour.”