Man’s Lego version of iconic northern Ont. ferry garnering attention

An Ontario man built a 9-ft, 8-inch Lego replica of the Chi-Cheemaun ferry using 92,000 bricks over three & a half months, garnering attention across the region

Ken Reid has been making Lego replicas for almost a decade, but he says his replica of an iconic northern Ontario ferry is getting the most attention.

Reid, a retired baker by trade from Owen Sound, created a nine-foot, eight-inch version of the Chi-Cheemaun between February and mid-May this year.

It took 92,000 pieces and he estimates that on many days, he worked six to eight hours on what was clearly a labour of love.

Reid said he and his late wife took the ferry several times over the years and he has thought about making a Lego replica of it for a while.

“I started thinking about it last year when it was (the Chi-Cheemaun’s) 50th anniversary -- I kind of missed the boat,” he joked, on the phone from his home Wednesday.

Took photos on the ferry

“Then in early February, I started downloading pictures off the internet and I figured, you know, it’s been bugging me for a year. It’s time to start building it.”

Ferry officials let him on board to take photos of the interior of the ferry when it was docked in Owen Sound so he could get everything just right.

The hardest part, he said, was the hull. He spent three weeks alone building and rebuilding it to get it right.

He uploaded photos of the finished product in May, and it has gathered a lot of media and other attention since then.

In addition to radio and TV interviews, he said Science North in Sudbury has asked about displaying it as part of its Lego exhibit, the Chi-Cheemaun has asked to display it, as has the Tom Thomson Art Gallery in Owen Sound.

He said he built it so it could be moved in four sections. He’s not sure about sending it all the way to Sudbury, however, and he’s unsure how it would fare on the actual ferry, since there’s so much movement back and forth.

“The Owen Sound Visitor Centre happens to be at the Tom Thompson (Art Gallery), so I’m kind of leaning towards that one for a while because I’ve had a lot of interest from people,” Reid said.

While he has built models all of his life, he got seriously into Lego replicas in 2016. Reid saw a TV show about adult fans of Lego and was soon hooked. At first, he dug out old Lego pieces that belonged to his children.

Now he has around one million Lego pieces in all corners of his home.

Reid said he was drawn to making replicas because he liked the idea of being able to enjoy his creation for as long as he wanted, then take it apart and build something new.

“You build a model and it just sits on a shelf forever,” he said.

“(With) Lego, you build it, you enjoy it, and after a while, you can change it.”

Another of his creations – a replica of Toronto’s Casa Loma – also attracted attention. As did his largest piece to date – a seven-foot high, seven-foot long and seven-foot wide replica of Minas Tirith from Lord of the Rings that required 220,000 Lego pieces.

“Unfortunately, that one’s not movable because a lot of people wanted to see it,” he said.

He also did a nine-foot version of the Titanic, which was good preparation for his work on the Chi-Cheemaun.

Reid expects he’ll enjoy his latest creation for a while before he gets the itch to make something else.

“Yeah, there’ll be another project,” he said.

“I usually slow down during the summer on my builds. It’s more of a winter hobby. But I don’t stop – like, if it’s a rainy day, I putter away in here.”