Petition under way to have Rush’s Neil Peart honoured at Lakeside Park

By Scott Munro
( Prog )
last updated

The St. Catharines venue made famous by Rush’s classic Caress Of Steel track in 1975 could be the location of a statue or plaque to honour Neil Peart

Neil Peart
Neil Peart (Image credit: Fin Costello/Redferns - Getty)

A petition to have a statue or plaque dedicated to Rush (opens in new tab)’s Neil Peart (opens in new tab) placed at Lakeside Park in St. Catharines, Canada, has gathered more than 20,000 signatures.

The location was made famous thanks to Rush’s classic Caress Of Steel track in 1975 – and according to St. Catharines newspaper The Standard (opens in new tab), Peart’s family are “fully on board” with the idea.

The petition was started by Tony McLaughlin (opens in new tab) and addressed to city mayor Walter Sendzik and St. Catharines’ residents.

In a statement McLaughlin says: “Speaking on behalf of myself and many others in the community of St. Catharines, we would like to see some sort of plaque or statue to commemorate the drummer of Rush, Neil Peart, in Lakeside Park. 

“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. 

“With his untimely passing recently, this needs to be done even more so now. Please sign the petition, and let's all make some change. Thank you.”

Peart’s nephew Jason Howe told The Standard that his family are behind the move, adding: "They think it's a great honour.”

In September 2016, Rush were awarded the keys to the city of Toronto (opens in new tab) at the opening of the Lee-Lifeson Art Park in the Willowdale neighbourhood in the city.

Peart’s death was announced on January 10, with a statement from the band saying the 67-year-old died on January 7 after a three and a half year battle with brain cancer.

At the weekend, Peart’s Rush bandmates Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson thanked family, friends, musicians, writers and fans for their messages (opens in new tab), saying: “These touching tributes help to lessen the pain of this terrible loss and remind us all to celebrate his remarkable life and our connections to it.”

Scott Munro
Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent more than 30 years in newspapers and magazines as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. After initially joining our news desk in the summer of 2014, he moved to the e-commerce team full-time in 2020. He maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, scouts out the best deals for music fans and reviews headphones, speakers, books and more. He's written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog and has previous written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to video games, travel and whisky. Scott grew up listening to rock and prog, cutting his teeth on bands such as Marillion and Magnum before his focus shifted to alternative and post-punk in the late 80s. His favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Ned's Atomic Dustbin and Drab Majesty, but he also still has a deep love of Rush.