Five years after a tragedy that stunned the Okanagan community, Kelowna’s crane collapse memorial has finally opened to the public. The unveiling ceremony, held yesterday at the site where five workers lost their lives, drew hundreds of residents seeking closure and remembrance.
“This memorial isn’t just stone and metal – it represents our community’s promise to never forget,” said Kelowna Mayor Tom Dyas, his voice catching slightly during the morning ceremony. “These were sons, brothers, fathers who went to work that day expecting to return home.”
The July 12, 2021 collapse at the Bernard Block construction site claimed the lives of brothers Eric and Patrick Stemmer, Jared Zook, Cailen Vilness, and Brad Zawislak. Zawislak wasn’t even working on the site – he was in an adjacent building when the crane’s boom crashed through the roof during dismantling operations.
Michelle Stemmer, who lost both her sons in the tragedy, placed a small bouquet of wildflowers at the base of the memorial. “This helps,” she told me after the ceremony, “but the hardest part is knowing this was preventable.” The Stemmer family has been advocating for stricter crane safety regulations across British Columbia since the incident.
The memorial features five steel beams rising from a concrete base, each representing a victim. Surrounding benches provide space for reflection, while a plaque details the circumstances of the collapse and names each person lost. Local artist Marina Terauds collaborated with the victims’ families to incorporate personal elements into the design.
“We wanted something that honored not just how they died, but how they lived,” Terauds explained as she showed me the subtle details etched into each beam. “The Stemmers loved fishing, so you’ll notice rippling water patterns on their monuments.”
The incident remains one of Canada’s deadliest construction accidents of the past decade. A WorkSafeBC investigation later revealed that human error during the crane’s dismantling process led to the catastrophic failure. The company responsible, Stemmer Construction, faced regulatory penalties but no criminal charges – a decision that continues to frustrate victims’ advocates.
Chris Vilness, father of Cailen, has been pushing for stronger accountability in the construction industry. “Five families were destroyed that day,” he said, gesturing toward the memorial. “The fines these companies face are just the cost of doing business to them, but we pay with our children’s lives.”
Since the collapse, British Columbia has implemented enhanced crane operator certification requirements and increased mandatory safety inspections, but critics argue these measures don’t go far enough. According to WorkSafeBC data, there were 33 crane-related incidents reported across the province last year, though none resulted in fatalities.
Donna Zawislak, who lost her husband Brad, sees the memorial as just one part of a longer journey. “The real memorial would be knowing this can never happen again,” she said, wiping tears. “Brad was just at his desk. He wasn’t even part of the construction.”
The memorial’s location, nestled within a small parkette created on the edge of the development where the tragedy occurred, offers a somber reminder of the human cost behind the city’s rapid growth. Kelowna’s construction boom has transformed the skyline over the past decade, with dozens of high-rises reshaping the downtown core.
Premier David Eby, who attended the ceremony, acknowledged the tension between development and safety. “As our cities grow upward, worker protection must be our foremost priority,” he stated. “This memorial reminds us that construction statistics represent real lives.”
The Bernard Block development was eventually completed in 2023, rising 25 stories above downtown Kelowna. Many locals admitted mixed feelings about seeing the building every day.
“I look up at it and think about those boys,” said longtime resident Marianne Kowalchuk, who brought flowers to the unveiling. “But I also think about how they helped build this city. It’s complicated.”
For the families, the memorial represents both an ending and a beginning. They’ve established the Crane Safety Foundation, which advocates for improved regulations and provides scholarships for safety training programs.
“Those five beams standing tall – that’s our mission now,” said Chris Vilness. “Standing up for workers when they can’t stand up for themselves.”
As the afternoon sun cast five distinct shadows from the memorial across the plaza, visitors continued to arrive, each pausing to read the plaque and remember a day that forever changed Kelowna.
