The new gazebo at Saugeen Rail Trail's Memorial Garden, part of the RailTrail’s 25th anniversary celebration, is expected to be completed by the spring.

Hub Staff

Construction of a new gazebo at the Saugeen Rail Trail's Memorial Garden at Peel and Grosvenor Street in Southampton is well underway. The gazebo is being constructed by Mark Cook Carpentry and a roof frame was just lifted onto the structure by Vanwyck Crane Services of Owen Sound April 19.

The new accessible gazebo, designed by Dan Murawsky of Murawsky Design & Drafting in Port Elgin, is due to be completed later this spring and will replicate the old Southampton train station. It is one of the many projects celebrating the Saugeen Rai lTrail Association's (STRA) “Trains to Ships” 25th anniversary celebration. Another such project is the life size mural of Steam Train #1532 on the side of the Southampton Market, which was unveiled in August, 2016.

SRTA President Joyce Scammell said that preparation work for the gazebo began last fall. “They did a lot of landscaping and put quite a good foundation on it,” she said, adding that the gazebo that used to be there was moved to another location along the rail trail. “It's at concession 10, so you can actually see it there as you enter into the trail,” she said.

Scammell said that once the building is complete, pictorial history boards by Historian Jeff Hemming and Artist Bert De Graaf will be placed. “That will be a huge part of it,” she said. “We are excited that things are moving forward.”

An image, designed by Murawsky Design & Drafting of Port Elgin, shows what the new gazebo will look like. It is expected to include pictorial history boards.

The former Southampton Memorial Garden gazebo was moved to its new location last fall, leaving the site ready for the new build.

The former Memorial Garden gazebo now sits at Concession 10 on the Rail Trail.