Town Council grants reprieve to fish slide

Give peace a chance was a popular refrain coined in 1969 by John Lennon.

Now, La Conner’s Ollie Iversen has put a new spin on Lennon’s famous anthem of the anti-war movement.

Iverson’s version is “Give Pisces a Chance.”

Pisces is the zodiac sign symbolized by fish. La Conner Waterfront Park is noted for its fish slide sculpture created by the late artist and salmon advocate Tom Jay.

In an impassioned plea to the La Conner Town Council at its June 27 hybrid meeting at Maple Hall, Iversen convinced the panel to reverse its earlier decision to scuttle the iconic slide – which has required repeated repairs, often due to weather blistering – and grant him and a corps of volunteers an opportunity to make the sculpture functional again.

“We’ve got some work to do,” Iversen, who helped raise more than $130,000 to establish the shoreline park, “but I know we can do it. I think we can get the slide back in operation this year. Give us a chance.”

Iversen was undaunted by an insurance audit and subsequent estimate that it could take $30,000 to permanently fix the slide.

“I know how to fundraise,” he assured Mayor Ramon Hayes. “Money is not the issue.

“I know, Ramon, that we can make it work,” Iversen insisted. “Give me an opportunity and you’ll have your slide. Give us an opportunity and, Ramon, you’ll be the first one down the slide.”

Iversen was not alone in his optimism.

“I think we can do it again,” said resident Marilyn Thostenson, a longtime patron of public art. “The people in this town are very generous. I would hate to lose it. I agree with Ollie.”

Council members did also.

“It’s a beautiful piece of art,” said MaryLee Chamberlain.

Mary Wohleb, who serves as liaison to the Town’s parks commission, sided with Chamberlain.

“I think we should give the community a chance,” she said.

Rick Dole and Ivan Carlson were convinced as well.

“I’m all for it,” said Dole, “if there’s no legal liability.”

“I think we should give Ollie a chance,” Carlson asserted. “I think there may be continued problems, but I see how much it means to Ollie.”

Hayes lauded Iversen for his tireless efforts on behalf of the park and its signature slide.

“Ollie has a long legacy of tenacity and sheer willpower that brought that park into existence,” Hayes said. “We honor his commitment to that park.”

Iversen, who along with former town administrator John Doyle has undertaken annual repair work on the slide, expressed gratitude: “We closed it,” he noted, “because we saw a crack and asked the Town for help.”