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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Construction crews started laying the foundation for the much-awaited new territorial dementia care centre Friday.

The centre, which was approved by the GNWT in April and will connect to Aven Manor, is set for completion November 2009.

Greg Debogorski, the executive director of Yellowknife Association of Concerned Citizens for Seniors, stands in front of the construction site of the new territorial dementia care facility. - Lauren McKeon/NNSL photo

It's an exciting time, said Greg Debogorski, executive director of Yellowknife Association of Concerned Citizens for Seniors (YACCS) - and one that's been a long time coming.

While the first design for the centre was scuttled in 2005 after construction costs were deemed too high, the Association has recognized the need for such a centre since 1995.

While applications won't be accepted for the 28-bed facility until closer to the completion date - Debogorski expects the two-cottage centre to open in separate stages - Debogorski said that casual preliminary surveys peg the need for Yellowknife alone at 60 to 65 people.

Extend that estimate to those beyond the city and it's easy to see why Debogorski expects a waiting list.

Currently, choices for those with dementia are slim, he said. "Either they go to the hospital, they stay home, or they go south," he said, noting none of those options are ideal.

"It's a big project," he added, "and a little place."

The facility's day care centre will help extend care to those with dementia said Martha Maclellan, a volunteer with the Yellowknife Alzheimer's society who notes that not everybody who is diagnosed will need care in a facility.

"We're also going to notice with the day care facility people will can keep their loved ones at home longer," she said.

"Caregivers who may be overwhelmed looking after their loved ones for 24/7 (will) be able to have some respite," she added.

The day program will have room for about five to eight people each day.

While residents at Aven Manor can develop dementia, the Manor doesn't admit those who already have it, Debogorski said. There's a good reason for that.

The angular corridors of the Manor are replete with jutting corners and dead end nooks. While this gives the place an at-home country feel, it does not complement many aspects of dementia - which commonly causes confusion.

The new facility will be designed to minimize the chance of residents becoming lost or needlessly anxious. This will include everything from memory boxes - which have pictures to trigger connections in the residents and can include pictures of their family or the truck they drove - to light switches that don't blend into the walls.

The exact design for the interior of the facility will also be cemented closer to November, but Debogorski knows the public is anxious to see the facility completed.

"People call all the time," he said.