If you pass by Royal Canadian Legion Branch 25’s soon-to-open new apartment tower and branch office on Great Northern Road you will notice a new feature on the building’s roof.
A metal replica of the Memorial Tower beacon at GFL Memorial Gardens - in honour of Sault and area veterans - was installed on the roof Dec. 22.
“We’re quite proud we were able to incorporate it into the building. It gives us a connection to the Memorial Gardens’ intent to honour veterans,” said Pierre Breckenridge, Branch 25 president.
It is Branch 25’s intention to have the replica beacon lit from dusk to dawn.
“At night you’ll be able to clearly see it from a distance. I’ve seen it from the corner of Great Northern Road and McNabb quite clearly,” Breckenridge said.
The Sault’s Steel Speed Erectors constructed the beacon and it was hoisted onto the building’s roof by Sal-Dan Developments.
As a follow up from last January’s ceremony marking the start of construction on the new apartment tower, Breckenridge said the official opening date for the building is not yet confirmed but stated “we know that it will be before June 1, 2024.”
The $34 million, nine-storey apartment tower building will include 108 units.
The units will be open to veterans, their families, Legion members and the general public in that order, Breckenridge said.
The Branch 25 president said approximately 90 per cent of the apartment tower's units have been taken so far with approximately 70 per cent of that group being veterans and their families, Breckenridge said.
“We are still taking applications,” he added.
Breckenridge said information about applying for the remaining units is available from veterans housing leasing coordinator Ashlynn McMillan at (705) 297-4453.
“On the main floor we’ll have our lounge. We’ll have a food service and we’re hopeful that the Legion’s Ladies Auxiliary will be involved,” Breckenridge said.
“We’ll also have our museum back. It’s being completely redone. In the front part of the building our intent is to have themed rooms where we’ll have a naval presentation of HMCS Sault Ste. Marie and other naval artifacts. The air force association, the army and the RCMP will also be represented in those rooms.”
The recently installed rooftop beacon will complement a rooftop patio and barbecue space for residents.
“The view up there is spectacular,” Breckenridge said.
The building will include meeting rooms, a gym, sauna, hot tub and a gathering room with a kitchenette for groups of families and friends to hold gatherings.
“The residents who had a chance to have a walk through before Christmas are really excited about it,” Breckenridge said.
“They were super excited about the view. You can’t hear any noise in the units unless you open the patio door. The fact that it’s concrete construction is a sound dampener. That’s a great byproduct.”
Every tenant will have an outdoor parking space but there are 45 extra spaces in an underground parking lot offered as separate paid amenities.
“I’m tremendously excited and proud of what we’ve been able to do. We have a lot of gratitude for SalDan,” Breckenridge said.
Breckenridge said Branch 25 and the Children of Shingwauk Alumni Association have ensured that a cairn at the southwest corner of the property - marking the site of the former Wawanosh Girls Residential School - has been preserved and protected with some new landscaping surrounding it.