BEHCHOKO/RAE-EDZO
Behchoko residents voted in favour of borrowing up to $9 million to complete work on the community's Khon Go Cho Complex, on March 25.
David Steele, senior administrative officer, said the loan is vital to the project's completion.
"We do need this financing," Steele said. "If we weren't able to borrow, we wouldn't be able to move forward."
The vote was 250 in favour of the loan and 46 against.
The facility has been sitting idle since 2008 due to a lack of funds to make repairs and bring it up to safety standards, Steele said.
"Certain aspects of the facility had become below building and safety code standards, with particular emphasis on the sprinkler system," he said. "The nature of that system is something you have to provide for the whole facility, not just a portion of it. That aspect in itself led to a longer-term closure than what we would have hoped."
It was home to a curling rink, a skating rink and a gymnasium.
Steele said the facility will now be expanded to enlarge the gym, repair the arena and add a fitness centre, a youth centre, a commercial kitchen and office space.
"It's pretty hard to find a community in the NWT that doesn't have a functional rink," he said. "All we're doing is putting it all on one package and doing a lot of catch up at the same time."
The renovations will allow the centre to be used as a gathering place for events, such as the Behchoko Handgames Tournament.
"Right now our facilities for community events is limited to about 300 people," Steele said. "This new facility, within the context of the gym alone, will handle an excess of 500 people. That is the capacity required for the community today for those types of events."
The rink will also be renovated to provide for year-round use instead of just the winter.
The entire project will be worth about $20 million, Steele said. The current building and land is worth about $5 million and money from the federal and territorial governments, the Tlicho Government and fundraising efforts make up about $6
million.
The facility's construction will also be used as training opportunities for community members, Steele said.
The goal is to develop a program where companies working on the project would train community members to do construction, electrical work, plumbing and other trade
work.
"The idea is there to make sure we have as many locally qualified people as possible to do the required work," he said. "Even if we have to contract businesses from outside Behchoko, these people would also be able to perform some of that work, too, under their mentorship. Whoever is involved would provide mentoring for our local people."
The building is being designed to allow for future changes, Steele said.
"There is a little bit of flexibility within the design so there is some room to expand or shrink or adjust," he said.
It will also be heated by a combination of diesel and a biomass energy system, which Steele said will help make the building energy efficient.
Steele said the goal is to begin work this spring. Work will begin to frame and close in the facility first, which will allow work to be completed on the interior during the winter months.
"I think we can accomplish quite a bit between now and the fall," he said.
He anticipates it will take about 16 months to complete the project.
