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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Members of the Northern Frontier Visitors Association still feel proud when they walk into the Northern Frontier Visitors Centre, even two decades after the tourism centre opened.

A mock-up of the Northern Frontier Visitors Centre, designed by architect Gino Pin. The Northern Frontier Visitors Association is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the centre on Friday. - photo courtesy of Pin/Taylor Architects

The association, founded in 1983 by volunteers from all sectors of the tourism industry to showcase the North Slave Region to visitors, had the centre built in 1992. The association is celebrating the 20-year anniversary of its beloved building on Friday.

"I feel proud when I walk in there because I was part of the original group," said Bluefish Services owner Greg Robertson, who served as president of the association when it was built.

"They had a very strong organization at the time," said Gino Pin, about his first impressions of the association when he was retained to design its centre.

The building was designed to foster tourist attraction to the region, Pin said, with features including open interior space, and skylights that expose the natural light and scenery of the North.

Set on heated piles on rock, the building remains much the same today as it did in 1992.

The final $2.25 million cost of the building was paid for with some government contribution, and fundraising by its members.

There are about 156 association members today, including lodge and hotel owners, outfitters, tour operators, and airline representatives, who will join some of the original founding members of the association at the Friday celebration, organized by past-president Yvonne Quick.

Quick has drawn many to the region since she first fell in love with it during her first flight north in 1962.

"It was a great place to fly, the town was friendly, and the fishing was phenomenal," Quick said.

While visitor figures have not been kept from the earliest days of the centre, in the past decade, more than 150,000 visitors have signed the centre's guest book, and more than 17,600 visited the centre last year alone. About 16,670 visitors were logged at the airport gift shop, which is also owned by the visitor's association.

Because most visitor centres are owned and run by the municipality or government where they are located, the association takes great pride in the fact that they fully own and operate the centre in Yellowknife.

"The people are really built into this building by owning it," said Jackie Coulter, the first executive director. "They are embedded in the building, really."

Now treasurer, Robertson knows all too well the financial challenges of operating a membership-owned, non-profit building, but by all accounts, owning the building is worth it.

"It's been a tough go, but it's definitely rewarding when you walk in there," he said. "It is quite a beautiful building."

In addition to anecdotes from some of the original founding members of the association, the anniversary celebration will include food, a cash bar, entertainment and a live and silent auction.

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