Sault rips up Walk of Fame

If Les Pyette wants to kiss his maple leaf stone again on Sault Ste. Marie's Walk of Fame, he's going to have to go over to the public works storage building on Sackville Road.

City councillors will learn tonight that the 16-inch granite stone plaques of Pyette, Roberta Bondar, Ron Francis, Phil and Tony Esposito, Treble Charger and other Walk of Fame inductees will be removed as part of a Queen Street streetscape project between Dennis and Bruce Streets.

The stones, many of them crumbling, will be placed in storage until city officials decide what to do with them.

"Given that several Walk of Fame monuments have been severely damaged by snow removal and maintenance equipment, it is not recommended that the the plaques be re-installed within the boulevard," Stephen Turco, a city planner, says in a report to council.

Councillors are expected to award a $222,000 contract tonight to M. Ricks Excavation Inc. for removing and replacing trees along that section of Queen Street.

Existing tree stumps and planter boxes will also be removed.

The project includes installation and restoration of paving stones, and purchase of steel furniture.

Work is expected to start immediately but the street furniture is not expected to be installed until next spring.

The original streetscape plan included special pedestrian lighting but that was removed because of budget restraints.

Electrical conduit will be installed now to service the lighting at a later date.

Earlier SooToday coverage of this story

Downtown streetscape project begins, after all

Downtown improvement project will have to wait

City proposes cool pedestrian light pillars for downtown

Gore Street cash diverted to pay for Queen Street improvements

Two famous guys spotted hanging out downtown

(PHOTO: Lester Pyette is pictured pretending to kiss a sidewalk marker bearing his name on the Sault Ste. Marie Walk of Fame in this September, 2014 file photo. Kenneth Armstrong/SooToday.com)