SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - A Yellowknife kennel owner will be leasing a section of land from the city next to Grace Lake to set up a Northern Lights viewing station.

Grant Beck, owner of Beck's Kennels, Aurora Viewing and Dogsled Tours, hopes to build a temporary structure this winter if he's able to secure a building permit. Council approved his lease proposal at their Oct. 27 meeting.

"It would be a viewing station, somewhere they can get in out of the cold. It could be a large tent or a temporary building," he said, adding it was important to choose a spot close enough to town so that it would only take 15 or 20 minutes by dog sled or snowmobile to get there.

"It's not too far away and it's easily accessible," he said.

Since Aurora World closed, there hasn't been a large viewing station for tourists, said Beck. His business has a small cabin near the North Arm but he wants to build a larger shelter.

He said he was considering a tent like the ones used at mining camps, which could be erected for the winter months and serve as a place where people could escape the cold. Beck has been running a tour business for 25 years and said the number of Japanese tourists has decreased dramatically over the past decade. He hopes building a viewing station will help attract more visitors.

When the proposal was raised at the council meeting, city councillor Bob Brooks said "the type of use that is being envisioned for this area is perfect for the type of application we'd like to see for this area."

Coun. David Wind pointed out that people already use the area for recreation, and Carl Bird, the city's director of corporate services, said the public can raise concerns for a two-week period after the development permit is posted.

The city previously leased the land to the Boy Scouts of Canada from 1978 to 1992. They built a cabin where scouts could camp year-round. The Scouts' cabin was removed when their lease terminated. Beck's sublease will run for eight years.