A new memorial garden for seniors and other members of Revelstoke’s community will provide a space to relax, unwind, and mourn lost friends and family.
The Revelstoke Hospice Society will collaborate with senior and assisted living residents in town to bring the dedicated space, inspired by Japanese garden landscaping and wind phones, to Moberly Park Manor starting this spring.
“This carefully designed garden will serve as a tranquil sanctuary within the community, where visitors can find solace, reflect on loved ones, and experience a sense of peace,” the hospice society says in its project brief.
After recommendation by the public art committee in November, the garden was approved by city council on Tuesday, Jan. 13, more than two years after it was first proposed across from the Revelstoke Community and Aquatic Centre.
“During that consultation, there were some concerns from the neighbouring property owners, so the hospice society explored other potential sites and came across Moberly Manor,” Revelstoke’s parks, recreation and culture director Laurie Donato told council.
READ: Time to take stock of the Okanagan gardening season
The hospice society worked with Rob Buchanan and Callum McLeary to draft a design for the garden’s new location at 711 First St. West, and is also collaborating with Moberly Manor and the Rotary Club of Revelstoke. Installation will benefit from a $14,000 New Horizons Grant for Seniors, distributed by the federal government to community-based projects across Canada.
In the space just next to Moberly Manor’s front path, an unplugged telephone booth will sit surrounded by a stepping stone walkway with a memorial bench, picnic table, smoketree, drought-tolerant xeriscape garden and even a tiny rock-cradled pocket garden with native plants.
Theresa Hamilton, the hospice society’s executive director, emphasized the garden will serve as not only a memorial space, but a bereavement space.
“Bereavement isn’t just experienced by old people — everyone experiences grief at some point,” she said. “I think it’s actually really important to give people a space to grieve, regardless of religion.”
Now, Revelstoke community members will have a dedicated garden for experiencing it, complete with a wind phone.
The concept of the wind phone originated in Ōtsuchi of northern Japan’s Iwate Prefecture. Designed by garden designer Itaru Sasaki in 2010, the phone helped him cope with a cousin’s death, but became publicly available in 2011 after the catastrophic earthquake and ensuing tsunami in the Tōhoku region that claimed nearly 20,000 lives.
Disconnected and non-functional, the wind phone is placed in a serene outdoor spot where people can speak to deceased loved ones, allowing for emotional release and a symbolic way to express unsaid words.
The phone will come paired with a poem that users can read. Hamilton noted this is something other communities across B.C. have already added to their public spaces, from Vernon and Merritt to Victoria and Port Moody.
“It’s really important to us as part of that design that the wind phone was part of that,” she said. “We’re doing really great things, honouring that design.”
Hamilton added that the 100-by-88-foot garden space, tucked away from the road behind existing mature tree canopy, will simultaneously give Moberly Manor residents privacy while making the space more approachable for passersby to sit, chat and reflect.
“It might be the place where someone’s walking their dog and they’re like, ‘I’m going to go in and talk to my dad on the wind phone,’” she said, calling the garden “one of the most valuable things coming to Revelstoke.”
In town, “there’s no one else who’s really focusing on bereavement,” Hamilton said, making the garden especially valuable for anyone who wants to grab a coffee, have a sit, and chat about grief and loss.
READ: Affordability, respite shortfall, making life difficult for B.C. seniors: advocate
According to the project brief, the memorial bench will be installed this year, while the garden is slotted for 2026-27 and the wind phone comes last in 2027-28.
Avid senior gardeners in the community will assist with xeriscape upkeep on a volunteer basis, and the hospice society will finance all installation and maintenance work before gifting the garden to the City of Revelstoke.
“Once they complete the project, the city will be responsible for maintaining that space,” Donato clarified. “The impact will be minimal maintenance costs, but we will continue to work with the hospice society and local seniors’ assisted-living facility to ensure that they’re involved in the process.”
Mayor Gary Sulz voiced his support at council Tuesday and affirmed that the garden, and wind phone, “will be therapeutic” for the community.
“I’m so grateful that the city is supportive,” Hamilton said, also recognizing Moberly Manor residents for their desire to improve the community for seniors. “It’s amazing what a dedicated group of people can do.”