Northern Ontario roadside attraction facing chopping block

A roadside attraction in Iroquois featuring a lumberjack may be on the chopping block.

Within the next couple of weeks, the town’s council will decide whether to spruce it up or send it to the landfill.

‘Guy-Paul Treefall’ is a 20-foot lumberjack situated on Highway 11, near the entrance to the town centre in Iroquois Falls. (Lydia Chubak/CTV News Northern Ontario)

Guy-Paul Treefall has been greeting travellers on Highway 11 for the past 15 years and officials said it is due for some touchups.

“It needs some plastering, some paint, and … there's some holes in it with the rain and the storms over the years,” said Iroquois Falls Mayor Tory Delaurier.

Council put the work out for tender and the bid from a local company came back at around $26,000.

“It's a lot of money for a small town to spend," said Delaurier.

"But (it's a) tourism attraction. It does draw people -- people do take pictures with it. People are stopping” just to see it.

However, not everyone agrees with the mayor.

“I think we should get rid of it,” said Dan Paul, a resident of Iroquois Falls.

‘Guy-Paul Treefall’ is a 20-foot lumberjack situated on Highway 11, near the entrance to the town centre in Iroquois Falls. (Lydia Chubak/CTV News Northern Ontario)

“It’s not too good where it’s situated to start with. I don't think it brings tourists in here, so I think we should get rid of it instead, spending all kinds of money to fix it."

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Fellow resident Lucie Woloschuk said she hasn’t made up her mind on the matter yet but said $26,000 "is a lot of money for us taxpayers."

"At the same time, I'd like to see it repaired because it's our town's heritage kind of deal. So I'm still debating, still wondering,” Woloschuk added.

Delaurier said he’s leaning towards keeping the statue, but he wants to gather more feedback over the next two weeks before a final decision about Guy-Paul Treefall’s fate is made.