Tower of power

This Toronto street post was called an 'eyesore,' until local residents started covering it with Lego bricks

- MARK COLLEY

A wooden pole recently installed on the Harbord Street sidewalk in front of the Sam James coffee bar is slowly being covered with Lego. The colourful coverup was started by a local artist but other community members have joined in the fun, adding trinkets and sometimes moving things around.

Leaning his bronze bike against a storefront, Martin Reis gets to work.

He opens a red plastic Lego briefcase and sifts through the pieces, looking for a handful that will do the job. Satisfied, he turns and adds them to the tower rising from the sidewalk.

It’s over five feet tall and covered with all kinds of Lego pieces. Started as a way to liven up an otherwise drab wooden post, Reis’ project has become a bright spot in the tightknit community wedged between Little Italy and Harbord Village.

“To some extent, this is all my fault,” Reis joked one recent Wednesday while adding another layer to the tower. “The goal is to take something that’s really ordinary and plain-looking and turn it into something that’s really colourful … Let’s add a little fun to the city. Come on. We all need it, don’t we?”

The tower — Reis calls it Le Tour de Lego — has done just that. A towering wooden post was installed on the Harbord Street sidewalk outside Sam James Coffee Bar a few months ago, later topped with a light and “school safety zone” sign. Sam James, the owner and founder of the shop, said the post was “grotesque” at first.