Darrell Greer
Northern News Services

Baker Lake (Apr 10/02) - A new state-of-the-art Adult Community Learning Centre will be open for business this year in Baker Lake.

Lorne Levy, capital planning manager for Nunavut's Department of Education, said last week the call for construction tenders went out this month.

"We're obviously pleased we found the funding and are able to replace the old community learning centre in Baker," said Levy.

The learning centre will be operated by Nunavut Arctic College.

Levy said his department hopes construction will begin this fall.

"At this point the actual opening is still a little bit grey, but it will be in the current fiscal year, certainly by the end of March 2003."

Levy said the department is reluctant to put an exact dollar figure on the project before bids are received, but it should exceed $1 million. The new structure will cover slightly more than 500 square metres.

"It's comparable to the one in Rankin Inlet, but not quite the same design. Given what they had in Baker, it's a wonderful upgrade," he said.

Nunavut Arctic College's Kivalliq campus director Mike Shouldice said the community of Baker Lake has been waiting for a new adult centre for many years.

He said the new building will be an impressive one, including a shop studio with its own exhaust system to accommodate arts and crafts and jewelry programs

"The building will also feature two large classrooms, as well as break-out and counselling space," said Shouldice.

The Baker Adult Community Learning Centre traditionally receives a large number of applications for its courses. It averages 15 to 30 in the adult basic upgrading course in addition to its other programs. Shouldice said during the course of a year, 60 to 80 adult students may go through the building.

"I'm sure Baker is going to be most appreciative of a new facility that's way beyond what the old one was. It's definitely a big step up for the students there."