Miners Memorial Park requests photos of miners killed in 1979 explosion

Looking for photos of late coal miners The artist behind a commemorative sculpture is looking for photos of the men lost in a Cape Breton mine explosion forty years ago.

Work on the Miners Memorial Park in Glace Bay is currently underway. Honouring the 12 men who lost their lives in the No.26 Colliery explosion on February 24, 1979, its creators hope to commemorate an important moment in the region's history -- but they need the public's help.

During the past few months, work on the Miner's Memorial Park has come a long way. However, with a sculpture of the men planned, the sculptor commissioned to create it requires photos of all the men to develop an accurate representation.

"His vision for the project is to actually incorporate the faces of the actual miners who died in the explosion into the sculpture we have," says Terry Roberts, who lost his father in the explosion when he was three years old.

"It really gives it the personal touch."

While pictures of five of the 12 men have been found, photos of the other seven are still needed, and are crucial for the project moving forward.

"The sculptor can't really get started until he has that and we'd really like to get that in motion," says executive director of the Miners Museum, Mary Pat Mombourquette.

"He's going to do a little model of the sculpture, so we'll have something in place to show people when we're looking for donations."

Despite being a work in progress, the promise of the sculpture is enough to elicit joy from those with a personal connection to the now-deceased miners. Already, Roberts says he plans to take his children to the space where their grandfather's face could someday be etched in stone.

"For my kids to see that, so they can walk in and see it and be like, 'Wow, that's granddad,' "says Roberts. “I can't stop smiling when I think about that moment."

Photos can be sent or emailed to the Cape Breton Miners Museum.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Ryan MacDonald