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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
It will take more than moving junk off of "government dock" to make the area accessible to visitors, says one long-time Yellowknifer who has used part of the wharf property as an extra storage space for years.

Elias Saravanja displays some of the long-term storage items that he says blocks access to the water at the Department of Fisheries and Oceans' Yellowknife Wharf, more commonly known as government dock, on Tuesday. - Laura Busch/NNSL photo

While he has no issues admitting that he is part of the problem when it comes to clutter on the government dock, Elias Saravanja is not about to be turned into a scapegoat, adding that he has seen the wharf space become more and more unkempt in recent years.

"In 30 years I haven't seen so much disarray as in the last three," said Saravanja, who owns an auto garage across the street on McDonald Drive.

However, he said that the city's plan to sign a 50-year lease for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) wharf has the potential to bring positive change to the space.

"All of us who are involved around the wharf, we get entitled," he said.

"As soon as it starts to look better, you want to go with the changes and improve. Pointing fingers and blaming doesn't help anything."

Saravanja has owned and operated his mechanic shop, Active Service and Maintenance, across the street from the government dock since 1983. Within that time, he has seen his section of Old Town change significantly, from a handful of businesses peppered with shacks to what it is today.

Through the years, Saravanja began to use a section of the government dock property to park vehicles as they awaited repairs. When it comes to moving these items off the property to make way for the city's vision of the dock, Saravanja couldn't be more pleased.

"I'm absolutely delighted," he said. "Finally."

Along with all the "junk" laying around the property, the area has become a parking lot, a canoe storage ground, and a place to tie up and store boats and barges - and none of these things should be allowed on a wharf, said Saravanja.

"It's going to break peoples' hearts, but there should be no parking on a wharf," he said, adding that under the federal wharf act, the only legal parking is for loading and unloading boats.

While there are several issues surrounding the use of government dock, the most delicate problem is how to balance the transition from the current free-for-all to a city-run public wharf, said Saravanja. He said that he agrees with the city taking over the property, but insists that municipal bylaw officers have no place enforcing use of the wharf - this is a job traditionally held by a wharf caretaker.

In all, Saravanja agrees that a clean-up and facelift to the government dock can benefit everyone who lives in the area and make the Old Town waterfront more appealing to visitors.

On Aug. 17, the City of Yellowknife announced its intentions to sign a lease for the property from DFO. As part of the lease arrangement, a cleanup will be completed on the site during the month of September. On Sept. 4, city officials will place notices on all stored goods that should be removed.

If these items are still on the property on Sept. 20, they will be towed at the owners' expense, the city stated in a press release.

"This is the ideal time to do something. The use is going to increase, but the space won't," said Saravanja. "If we don't apply the rules, what's going to happen in 10 years?"

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