Don't follow this arrow in new Legion building parking lot

The developer in charge of the new nine-storey Legion building admits an apparent error in construction is comical, but assures it will be corrected before the building opens in the spring.

A photo was posted to a local Facebook group on Friday showing a new expanded exit from the Legion building with an arrow pointing directly to a utility pole.

Reached by phone on Friday, Sam Biasucci, president of SalDan Construction Group, said the scene is a little comical, but it’s more a matter of timing than a construction mistake.

”If you drive by or coming out of there you could have a chuckle about it, you know?” said Biasucci.

Biasucci said the pole will be moved about two meters to the east and other adjacent poles will also have to be moved in an operation that will require a brief power outage.

“We paid all of the fees for the removal before we even started the building because we entered into an agreement,” said Biasucci. “PUC, like anybody else, has priorities and that’s not a big priority. But they committed to do it.”

“They have never let me down in 45 years, I don’t think they are about to start,” he added.

Dan Perri, municipal services and design engineer with the City of Sault Ste. Marie, noted in an email to SooToday that the construction of the building is still in progress.

"The property is currently designated as a private construction zone amid development," said Perri. 

Perri noted that city staff granted approval for alterations to the entrances as part of this process and that PUC secured municipal support for the moving of the utilitiy pole.

The utility pole will be moved "within the next few weeks," said PUC spokesperson Jairus Patterson. That would mean it will be out of the way before the building's expected opening in late March or early April.

Biasucci said he couldn’t hold up the other work that needed to be done while waiting for the pole to be moved.

“In the meantime, we finished the parking lot so the lines get painted, the in and out arrows get painted and it just so happens the arrow is there and so is the pole,” he said. “PUC will remove the pole, surgically take care of repairing the asphalt and it will look like it was never there.