New courtyard growing joy for seniors, community members

In the spring and summer, there’s nowhere Victor LeBlanc would rather be than out in the gardens around Deer Lodge Centre, his hands in the dirt, tending the sunflowers and bright orange or yellow rudbeckias that bloom on the historic facility’s grounds.

That’s not what first brought him to Deer Lodge, but it is what has kept him there for a remarkable 42 years. LeBlanc was just 18 years old in 1984, when he took a job at the centre as a housekeeper. He was fresh out of high school, with plans to travel the world.

Those plans came to fruition. But he kept coming back to work at Deer Lodge, which was opened in 1916 to treat First World War veterans. By 2000, LeBlanc transitioned from the residential floors to working on the grounds, following a lifelong interest in gardening.

Since then, so long has Deer Lodge’s groundskeeper been at the 418-bed centre, and so meaningful is his work to residents’ emotional wellbeing, that he’s become one of the centre’s most familiar and beloved characters. He spends his days chatting with residents and their relatives, even handing out dog treats to passing community members.

“I probably have the most stress-free job in the building,” LeBlanc, now 60, laughs, chatting last week in Deer Lodge’s sunny cafeteria. “The only time I worry is when I run out of dog treats.”

Now, LeBlanc is getting to help put his own lasting mark on the place he’s helped tend for more than four decades.

On Wednesday, Deer Lodge is set to unveil a new interior courtyard, the end result of a multi-year effort to refresh its aging outdoor space. The project, which cost roughly $1.5 million and was supported by private donors, aims to be a place of calm and healing for visitors and residents, which include veterans of the Korean and Second World wars.

“There’s lots I’m looking forward to,” LeBlanc says of the new design, which was developed with significant input from Deer Lodge residents and their families. “It’s mostly for the residents to be back with nature. To see that twinkle in their eye at the smell of the flowers, or the calming sound of the water.”

“Mother Time caught up with everything and aged it to a point where it was more of a risk than it was worth the hassle of fixing. Now it’s going to be amazing.”

In recent years, the old courtyard, which was built in the 1980s, was showing its age. Uneven cobblestones posed a tripping hazard for residents. Steep ramps were difficult to negotiate in a wheelchair, and community garden planter boxes were too low for wheelchair users to use easily.

“When it was around, it served its purpose wonderfully,” LeBlanc says. “But Mother Time caught up with everything and aged it to a point where it was more of a risk than it was worth the hassle of fixing. Now it’s going to be amazing, so much more user friendly for staff and residents.”

By contrast, the new courtyard — which is gated to ensure residents with dementia don’t wander too far — is designed with residents’ needs in mind. There’s a sensory area, with sculptural fountains and lots of lavender to perfume the air; there’s a circular gathering space for Indigenous ceremony, surrounded by a healing garden of sweetgrass, cedar and sage.

The new community gardening beds are elevated so that wheelchair users can tend them comfortably. There are peaceful patio spaces where families can sit with their loved one and enjoy a cup of tea. There’s even a low stage already wired with electrical outlets, to host live bands.

“We all know what it’s like to sit in grandma’s backyard,” says Lindsay Gillanders of Brandidly Communications, who has been working with Deer Lodge to share news of the project. “And when grandma lives here, it gives a sense of normality to still be able to grab a cup of tea and go sit in the backyard and not have to worry that she’s wandering.”

One of LeBlanc’s hopes is that the new courtyard will bring back some of the spirit of his favourite Deer Lodge memories.

In the 1980s and ’90s, LeBlanc recalls, the personal care home wing of the centre would often hold outdoor parties. All 40 residents of a floor, along with their families and Deer Lodge staff, would gather in the old courtyard to savour warm days with food, live bands, and socializing.

“I want the community to be more involved… I want it to be somewhere they can have a coffee with the paper, bring their dogs, and just chill at Deer Lodge.”

At those parties, LeBlanc would watch in wonder as some residents with dementia, who often appeared unresponsive to their surroundings, would perk up and connect with the music and people around them. Those parties began to decline during the 2000s, but the groundskeeper always dreamed of bringing them back.

“Just seeing how much people enjoyed it, you could see it in their eyes,” LeBlanc recalls. “When it came to the party, you could see they just lit up. It’s because everybody was young at one time, and we all remember stuff from our childhood. I’m hoping to go back to that, because it was so much fun when I first came.”

Now, Deer Lodge has a refreshed space to do that — and to invite others in as well.

“I want the community to be more involved,” LeBlanc says. “I want it to be somewhere they can have a coffee with the paper, bring their dogs, and just chill at Deer Lodge.”

melissa.martin@freepress.mb.ca