Here's how your City Council decided tonight to greet visitors to Canada

Visitors arriving in Canada on the International Bridge will be greeted with this, er, first impression of our nation and city.

They'll continue to see this nondescript PUC transformer substation, after Sault Ste. Marie City Council decided tonight to cancel a planned concrete welcoming sign and plaza.

As SooToday reported earlier this month, the project was allocated $200,000 in this year's city budget, but the final estimate came in at twice that - $400,000.

Few specifics were given for the massive cost overrun and council voted unanimously on September 12 to send its planning department back to the drawing board.

Tonight, senior planner Stephen Turco defended the project as a critical part of the Canal District Neighbourhood Plan.

"While the 3D concrete letters and maple leaf structure serve as the focal point of the site, the true value of this project are the social and community benefits emerging from its function as a public plaza - a social gathering place," Turco said in a report to Mayor Christian Provenzano and City Council/

Tonight, councillors were presented with four options:

• Option 1 - approve an additional $125,000 to build the welcoming sign and plaza as originally planned
• Option 2 - limit the project to its approved budget of $200,000
• Option 3 - re-tender the project next year
• Option 4 - cancel the project

The first option would have included a concrete Sault Ste. Marie welcome sign and support platform, together with a plaza space with landscape buffer to hide the PUC substation, and programmable lighting.

The second option was limited to the welcome sign and necessary PUC site upgrades. Instead of a concrete plaza, the site would consist of sod. There would be no landscaping to hide the barbed wire, gravel and green mesh fencing at the PUC substation. Landscaping, lighting, a concrete plaza and other features could have been added later.

Turco warned councillors that retendering the project next year would not necessarily result in a lower bid. The original idea was to include the job as part of this summer's reconstruction of Huron Street. Next year, the contractors are likely to be involved in larger street reconstruction projects and they would be less likely to bid on a small project like the welcome plaza.

Turco recommended Option 2, limiting the project to $200,000.

But councillors opted instead for Option 4, cancelling the whole thing.

"If we're going to do this project, we should do it right and we should do it fully," said Mayor Provenzano.

"If we're not going to do it right, let's just not do it at all," the mayor said.

"This is not the right time for a $400,000 project," said Ward 4 Councillor Rick Niro.

Niro nonetheless suggested that the gravel road leading to the substation be paved and that more trees and flowers be planted there to make the site more attractive.

Mayor Provenzano said that tonight's cancellation doesn't preclude City Council from directing that other ideas for a welcoming feature be developed.

Ward 2 Councillor Sandra Hollingsworth suggested that design students from Sault College or Algoma University be allowed to participate in planning any new concepts.

Ward 5's Marchy Bruni asked whether PUC would consider sprucing up the transformer site, in view of its visibility to arriving tourists. 

"They operate under a very tightly regulated environment," Bruni was told by Planning Director Don McConnell.

"They really don't have a lot of additional funds that they could bring to bear on this project," McConnell said. "Actually, they have no additional funds. That was their comment."

Ward 2 Councillor Susan Myers expressed hope that some kind of welcome feature will be placed on the PUC site.