TIMMINS - What started as a Christmas present is becoming a major personal project.
Brendan Montgomery built the McIntyre headframe out of Lego for his father as a Christmas present. When other people saw the build and wanted their own, he knew it was worth investigating.
“I made it as a gift for him, and he really liked it,” he said. “He showed a few of his friends, and I thought that if we were going to do more, I’d like to do a bigger batch of them.”
An online campaign has been launched to try and get the iconic mining structure into more homes.
About 7.5 inches tall, the replica is a "desktop model" made out of 289 pieces. It's not affiliated with Lego or the City of Timmins.
The Kickstarter will help purchase the bricks needed for the sets, and Montgomery said if there is interest, he might start looking locally for future projects.
“Maybe I’ll do some other Timmins landmarks as well,” he said.
Montgomery has fond memories of those little plastic bricks from his childhood.
“At Queen Elizabeth elementary school, we got these first-generation Lego kits, and Science Timmins did these competitions at Northern College,” he said. “I’ve got a bunch of medals and participation ones in different categories.”
He said he started getting back into building around 2019, and many adults have been creating their own sets.
“They’ve been coming out with more adult-oriented sets, so larger, more intricate, more detailed, nicer to display and not just play with,” he said. “During the pandemic it was an easy activity to do at home, so I got even more into it then.”
Montgomery now works in engineering and said he’s seen a connection between Lego enthusiasm and his chosen career path.
“A lot of engineers are into it because of their personalities and how they think,” he said. “It’s more of a correlation.”
Learn more about or support the McIntyre headframe building blocks Kickstarter campaign here.