Lynn Lau
Northern News Services

Paulatuuq (Sep 10/01) - The 26-year-old hamlet office is rotting away.

On Aug. 30, Mayor Keith Dodge condemned the building in his capacity as the hamlet's fire chief.

Dodge and five staff are now working out of a previously vacant five-bedroom staff house, while council meetings have relocated to the school gym.

Dodge says the hamlet office was believed to be in good shape until 1995 when it was discovered that the pilings were rotting. A few years later, the roof and south wall started to rot too.

Last month, an independent structural engineer, Sam Kassem with Inuvik's Northern Engineers and Architects, inspected the site and agreed that the building was unsafe.

Dodge says the hamlet has been trying to get the territorial government to spring for a new building or major renovations since 1995, but so far, he hasn't heard of any definitive plans.

"There was some temporary repairs but this past year, it deteriorated a lot worse than we figured," Dodge says. "I'm sure before any answers come out, we're going to be doing a lot more negotiating back and forth. Hopefully something will come out shortly and we'll have something to look forward to.

"We're not going to settle for a five-bedroom house which has been suggested over the negotiations. We want the same size building. We're hoping the government will have a look at this seriously."

Dave Murray, deputy minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, says the department hadn't expected the building to decay as quickly as it did.

"After last year's inspection, they believed they could keep the building going until next year when the building would be rebuilt," Murray says. "But even in the past year it deteriorated quite significantly."

He says $600,000 has been allocated for a new building but the designs haven't been drawn up yet. The money has yet to be approved by legislature, but Murray says he's expecting construction to begin next year.

"Now that everyone has come to the conclusion that it needs to be replaced, what we'll do is meet with the community