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New research centre planning begins Multimillion-dollar research institute designed to be welcoming to the public
Danielle Sachs
Northern News Services
Published Monday, June 17, 2013
IKALUKTUTIAK/CAMBRIDGE BAY
Work is moving ahead on the Canadian High Arctic Research Station (CHARS) in Cambridge Bay. Community consultation work began last week in anticipation of the start of construction slated to begin next summer when supplies are expected to be delivered via sealift.
The research station is scheduled to open in 2017. An office will also open at Nunavut Arctic College this summer.
Approximately 40 people showed up for the public meeting on June 11, which had representatives from the department of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada and the station's architects, two Montreal-based firms - Fournier Gersovitz Moss Drolet and Associates as well as NFOE et associes architectes - operating as a joint venture will design and supervise the construction of the multidisciplinary facility.
The station will operate a new science and technology program and up to 150 people will be hired seasonally. The current plans call for 33 permanent employees.
The plans presented during the community consultation included a cardboard mock up of how the site will be laid out. The decision to build the centre on the Plateau on the north side of the community was made earlier this year.
The main building will be 4,500-square-metres and a second 1,500-square-metre maintenance building is also in the works.
Architect Alain Fournier told the community that there are still plans to hire locally whenever possible, providing jobs for the community.
While the project manager has not yet been announced, Fournier said the manager will be handing out contracts for local projects happening around the CHARS site.
"The architectural and engineering design consultants wanted to meet with residents to discuss topics with regards to the design and use of the Qaggiq as the main entrance gathering place, the use of the paths to access the research station and the incorporation of Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (IQ) principles," said Jamie Lee Maghagak, economic development program officer with the Hamlet of Cambridge
Bay.
The IQ principles embody traditional Inuit knowledge and include environmental stewardship and working together for a common purpose.
The public will have access to almost all areas of the facility, said Fournier.
Ottawa will pay $142.4 million over six years, beginning in 2012, for the construction of the research station and to purchase equipment. An additional yearly investment of $26.5 million, beginning in 2018, has been earmarked to operate the station and its programs.
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