Rendezvous Corner upgrades arriving this summer

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This article was published 30/07/2024 (190 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The rest stop with the famous St Malo deer couple will soon get some dearly sought upgrades after De Salaberry council approved over $300,000 for paving and a timber shelter called an arbour.

The stop off Highway 59 is now a lonely gravel pad for the statue unveiled in 1990 by King Charles’ youngest brother Prince Edward, with only an electric car charger built in 2021 and a sign with promised upgrades. But that should change with construction expected this summer and fall.

Grunthal company Toews Timberframes was approved to build the arbour for a total cost of $171,552, which includes tax and donations of $11,000 by Creekside Timber and $11,514 from Toews Timberframes itself, according to the staff report.

D & L Builders will be paid $152,150 for site preparation and concrete. The work will set the stage for the arbour and food truck pedestals.

Together, these are slightly over the $300,000 budget, but the rest is expected to be covered through a donation, grant or slight adjustment to the work being done.

Donations from Green S Welfare Force of 256 assorted trees, shrubs and grasses will also spruce up the place this year.

Work approved does not include the light fixtures, building the food truck pedestals, installing the interpretive panels that have been made, nor finishing the landscaping.

But after nearly a decade of owning the rest stop and other attempts to get the project moving forward yielded no acceptable contract bids, council was happy to see things happening.

Reeve Darrel Curé described the small park-like setting the deer statue had been at before it was moved to make way for development.

“That said, council wants to put this back into perspective. The design’s not going to be the same as what it used to be, but we’re going to reset that park-like setting in that corner,” said Curé.

He added that now the statue is in a place owned by the RM, it has a permanent home that can share its history with other significant moments from the St Malo area.

“We’ve got some panels that we want to put up with some history. So we want to make it a part of the Crow Wing Trail, a rest area, information about the community and how it transpired. That’s all going to be there,” said Curé.

The building of a community and tourist draw is being done in a phased approach. Other amenities hoped for include a children’s play area with a timber seesaw and balancing logs, benches, maple trees for community tapping, kiosk and washroom.

The two deer were put in St Malo in 1990 to commemorate, as the plaque puts it, “the only successful deer relocation program in Canada.” That 1985 to 1988 effort moved 283 white-tailed deer from Winnipeg to the St Malo Wildlife Management Area and surrounding region, with locals putting in the volunteer effort to make it happen.