Jeff Colbourne
Northern News Services

NNSL (Aug 05/98) - The operations offices of the NWT Power Corporation are relocating to a new building at the Jackfish Lake power plant.

The Power Corp. building on 49th Avenue across from Department of National Defense headquarters has been sold to Raven Tours.

The 288 square-metre addition to the existing offices at Jackfish will cost the Power Corp $490,000. Their former office, which has been in existence since the mid 1960s, has been sold for $270,000.

"The operation can run a lot smoother and we will save money in the long run as well," said Dan Roberts, director of central operations.

A saving on time travelling between offices, minimizing wear and tear on vehicles, easy co-ordination of meetings and having one filing system instead of two are among the advantages of a Jackfish main office.

The new building will also be more energy efficient said Roberts, given the availability of residual heat from the power plant.

The idea to build a new office has been in the works for a while but it wasn't until this past April that the Power Corp. got budget approval from the territorial government.

Nine staff will be affected by the move including four office staff, a safety manager, finance manager, the director and two operational staff. Construction is hoped to be completed on the building Sept. 1.

The Power Corp will be a little rushed to move out of their old office by the end of the month. The new office may not even be completed by then, said Roberts, who admits he may have work out of his home for a couple of weeks.

The new owner of the Power Corp's old building, Raven Tours, is eager to move in.

"Our company has expanded so much that we needed an operation base," said owner Bill Tait, whose company deals primarily with Japanese tourism.

"We have upwards of 35 staff in winter and we need more room for our operations." Raven Tours' office is currently in the Nova Construction building beside the Unicorn Pub on 49th Street. They also have a gift shop and house most of their tour supplies at the Explorer Hotel.

Tait is hoping that despite a downturn in the Asian economy, the tourism business won't be effected so that his new building will be put to good use.