Blueberry Patch buildings in process of being demolished
No definite plans for cleared land yet
Sarah Ladik
Northern News Services
Thursday, December 24, 2015
INUVIK
The units in the Blueberry Patch are being torn down and hauled away along with quite a few mementos.
Units at the Blueberry Patch were being torn down Dec. 17. Work will halt for the coldest months and then resume, likely in May, to complete the project. - Sarah Ladik/NNSL photo
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In one unit, contractors were asked to find a wedding ring that had been lost years ago. The ring was found and returned to its rightful owner.
"A lot of people came by and said 'I used to live here, in that one' " said James Firth, co-owner of Nanzu Demolition and Environmental, the firm hired to tear down what had most recently served as the Aurora College family housing units but were originally built in 1968 for military families, many of whom made their mark on the place.
"There's a lot of history here. You'd take off a layer of drywall and it was like peeling back the years. seeing the names from people who used to live here."
Demolition started in August and about half the units have been successfully taken down. Work had to stop for a few weeks due to the cold and will resume in May after last week's final push of the season.
"We ran into some unexpected issues that slowed us down," said Firth, citing lead and asbestos as the two primary concerns.
"There was way more than we expected."
He said this took an additional month and a half of work.
On the last day of demolition for the year, 24 units had been taken down, leaving 26 for the spring. Everything hazardous will be hauled down south for processing but the wood and uncontaminated building material will be taken to the Inuvik solid waste facility.
"All the rest of the units are prepped and ready to go in May," said Firth.
He was also keen to point out Nanzu trained 22 workers in asbestos disposal and demolition and used all equipment and people from Inuvik. The only part of the project needing outside resources is the transportation of hazardous material to the south since there are no appropriate facilities in the territory.
"It would be nice to see the NWT review their policy, maybe find a way to keep that stuff here, " he said. "It would save them money and maybe create some jobs."
Cara Bryant, Northwest Territories Housing Corp. spokesperson, said the units have outlived their 40-year intended design life and were vacated and declared surplus by the GNWT. The housing corp. will retain ownership of the property to "support future housing development," she stated in an e-mail.
