ALEXANDER RETIREMENT HOME ATTRACTING CURIOUS CLIMBERS BEATING PATH UP HILL TO DOORSTEP

Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com

GRAVENHURST — Construction of the new Alexander retirement home has become quite an attraction for local walkers — and hikers.

The site overlooking Muskoka Bay has drawn a lot of attention around town as it rises up at the end of Isaac Street west.

But it’s a little known public pathway beside it — at the end of Greavette Street — that affords intrepid exercisers a fleeting view of the Greystone Project Management builders hard at work in the heat and coping with wind off the lake.

The short-cut up and down between Bay Street and Sarah Street allows those with enquiring minds a sneak peek.

And since work began in April and the ground-breaking the first week of May, hillwalkers have beat a steady path to discover what the cacophony of construction noise is all about in the north end of town.

Traffic, too, along the dead-end street has increased say neighbours, who’ve noticed more vehicles driving down, looking around and leaving.

Greystone workers pose for a photo-op Friday after a company barbecue before returning to work on the Alexander retirement home at the top of Greavette Street north and the end of Isaac Street west.

What everyone has found is that the home is well on its way to becoming a Bay landmark opposite the Marriott Hotel and the Ditchburn and Greavette condos and that by spring 2024 will tower over the Segwun and Wenonah II ships.

The home’s southern foundations are in with their walls taking shape this summer.

Water and sewer services are also in the works for connections.

They expect to have the roof up on the multi-storey building by Christmas.

Meanwhile, some neighbours say their concerns about enough parking and its proximity on the property have been assuaged.

As well, after blasting rock — some of which landed in the lake — that is going to require considerable effort to clean up as part of storm water management and remediation. But the builders are aware of it and will go down and fix the unsightly problem, which they admit can’t be done with large excavating equipment.

Talks have already taken place with some neighbours to address various concerns.

A forgotten public pathway at the end of Greavette Street, which neighbours keep clean in summer and shovel in winter, has become a more popular shortcut from the lake up-street as trekkers take an opportunity to keep track of the process of the Alexander mixed housing and retirement project.
The mixed housing project is quickly taking shape with footings at the south end of the project. Greystone builders hope to have the roof up by Christmas and to continue work inside toward a spring 2024 opening.

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