A place to call their own
New community hall nears completion in Kakisa
Elaine Anselmi
Northern News Services
Monday, October 19, 2015
KA'A'GEE TU/KAKISA
With a large main room, kitchen, deck and windows looking out onto Great Slave Lake, the new gathering hall in Kakisa was built to the specifications of the community.
The front of the new community hall in Kakisa this summer, where some final touches to landscaping and furnishings are still being completed. - photo courtesy of Ann Peters |
"We looked at what we really wanted in the community and what we had and at blending that building into the community," said Ka'a'gee Tu First Nation band manager Ruby Simba.
"We didn't want a big huge building sitting in the middle of Kakisa that didn't fit. We wanted something that fit our culture and our lifestyle and something that wasn't way out of balance."
The path to seeing the 300-square-metre community hall built wasn't without its twists and turns. The community parted with the firm originally hired to design the space due to a lack of shared vision for what was needed out of the multi-functional hall.
"We started off with a big building that cost too much," said Simba. "So we checked out other communities, what they had and we wanted something more like what Enterprise had. We went in there and checked it out and liked what we saw - just the basics."
The hall, Simba said, is a milestone for the community as it is the first major build taken on since the New Deal for NWT Community Governments went into effect in 2007, transferring responsibility for infrastructure projects away from the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs (MACA).
"Before, MACA took care of our money. If there were any big projects going on, infrastructure projects in the community, they were the ones that were overseeing it," said Simba.
"With the New Deal, it gave us all the money and showed us which accounts to open, where to put the money and how to track and spend it."
The community received support along the way from Jean Soucy, manager of infrastructure and community planning at MACA, as well as Ann Peters, with Dillon Consulting, who was hired on to manage the project after the firm who created the initial design was let go.
"When you're planning buildings, there is a lot of back and forth between what you would like to have and the actual cost and what's reasonable," said Peters.
"The community already had a really good idea of what they wanted. They wanted space where their kids could play, they wanted to make sure they could use it in the summer, have a bit of a stage, looking out over the lake was really important and they wanted a big kitchen because they do a lot of healthy meals together in the community."
Due to deadlines attached to federal funding, Soucy said there was a short turnaround for construction.
Under New Building Canada Plan funding, which accounted for 75 per cent of the more than $2-million project, there was a deadline of March 31, for construction. The other 25 per cent of the cost came from several years of Community Public Infrastructure funding under MACA.
With shovels only breaking ground in September 2014, Soucy said this left little time but the contractor, Rowe's Construction, was able to make it happen.
He added that the limited time did not take away from the quality of the building and care taken in its construction.
"It's a very comfortable building and it fits their needs and it's reflective of the area itself," said Soucy. As well as windows and decks with lake and river views, he said the contractor took the risk of wildfires in the area into account, using fire-retardant materials on the exterior of the building.
Peters said the community accepted the new hall at the end of March, with a few finishing touches to be completed over the summer.
In the next week or two, Soucy said a final inspection would be done allowing community members to start using the space for recreational activities and gatherings - someone is already planning to host a wedding in the new hall.
Furnishings are still on order for the hall and Chief Lloyd Chicot said there was some landscaping to be done as well - a reason the community held off on hosting a grand opening this fall, as was promoted in the legislative assembly by MLA Michael Nadli during the final session.
"The government wanted us, in the beginning, to coincide with before the election," said Chicot. "They were rushing it. We wanted to make sure that it was furnished and we'd have everything in place before the grand opening, so it didn't make sense to rush it."
In the meantime, he said the hall would be in use, particularly by the school for youth recreation, as well as for the community gathering that follows the annual fall hunt and for a Christmas banquet.
Having been about a decade since Kakisa hosted the Dehcho Annual Assembly, Simba said it's another event the community hopes to see in the new space - possibly coinciding with the official grand opening.
"There was all kinds of talk about a grand opening but when we really thought about it, we're not ready for a grand opening. We're so busy with all of the furniture being ordered that hasn't come in, we haven't picked out a name for the building, haven't picked an individual to cut the ribbon. We're just not ready," said Simba.
"It's not finalized at the council level but we're aiming for springtime."
