Rush’s Neil Peart To Be Honored With Pavilion In His Canadian Hometown
St Catharines’ council leaders confirm that a structure at Port Dalhousie’s Lakeside Park will be named after the Rush legend.
According to reports in The St. Catharines Standard, a pavilion in Port Dalhousie, a community in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada, is being named after late Rush drummer Neil Peart.
A unanimous vote by the St. Catharines city council made the name Neil Peart Pavilion at Lakeside Park official on Wednesday, 3 June.
The ‘Neil Peart Pavilion’ got more than 80 percent of the online votes. Voting took place for two weeks and the winning name was presented to city council for final approval.
“The public voting on naming is obviously fairly conclusive,” said Port Dalhousie Councillor Bruce Williamson. “Neil Peart’s been one of our most famous local individuals and a lot of his songs have local roots, including the namesake park.”
The initial petition was started by Tony McLaughlin who said: “Neil spent a lot of his youth in Port Dalhousie as can be heard in the famous song he penned, ‘Lakeside Park’. What an amazing tribute it would be to him to have this placed there.
“We’re all very proud of his accomplishments after he made that fateful audition in Toronto back in the 70s. If we all pull together, we can make this happen.
Peart grew up in St. Catharines, worked at the former midway in Lakeside Park and wrote the song ‘Lakeside Park’, which was included on Rush’s third album, 1975’s Caress Of Steel.
Peart died on January 7 in Santa Monica, California after a three-year battle with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. The iconic Rush drummer was 67 years old. The band announced Peart’s passing on 10 January setting off shockwaves and an outpouring of grief from fans and musicians all over the world.
Rush’s final show took place at the Forum in Los Angeles on 1 August 2015. Peart indicated at the time that he wanted to retire while he was still able to play well, along with a desire to spend more time at home with his young daughter.
Peart joined Rush in 1974. He was widely regarded as one of the best rock drummers of all time, alongside John Bonham of Led Zeppelin; Keith Moon of The Who; and Ginger Baker of Cream. Peart was also his band’s primary lyricist, drawing inspiration from everything from sci-fi to Ayn Rand.
Listen to the Best of Rush on Apple Music and Spotify.
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