The death of 'Disneyland'
Final unit on public housing site to be removed in week or two
Paul Bickford
Northern News Services
Monday, April 25, 2016
HAY RIVER
It won't be long until the last A-frame white house will be removed from Porrit Place, otherwise known as "Disneyland".
Right now, it is the only one remaining in a housing project that stretches back to the 1960s.
"It is an end of an era," said Joletta Larocque, district director for the South Slave with the NWT Housing Corporation.
The Disneyland houses were among the original public housing units in Hay River.
"They were actually built in 1969 before the housing corp. even was established," said Larocque, noting they were constructed through the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
"There were 20 units originally built in that Disneyland area with that same construction, that same design," she said.
One later burned and wasn't replaced.
That left 19 of the three-bedroom units on Porrit Place, which is off Woodland Drive.
About three years ago, the NWT Housing Corporation began a phased end to Disneyland with the sale and removal of five of the houses.
Larocque explained removal of the houses was done through attrition.
"So as people moved out, we just wouldn't replace it," she said.
Larocque said the houses were still in pretty good shape.
"You get the right people to buy them and they have the skills and qualifications to fix them up," she said. "They're at the end of their usable life for us. The cost to fix them up and keep them running was more than their value."
About a year ago, the corporation sold another five by tender, and they were recently moved off the site.
"And then another eight went out to tender sale a few months ago and were awarded," said Larocque. "So the buyer's been removing them."
That leaves the one.
Larocque said the tender call for that unit closed April 14, and it is expected to be removed from the site in the next week or two.
No one has actually lived in Disneyland since last summer, when people would stay in the last house for a couple of months while retrofits were completed on other public housing units in the community.
Mayor Brad Mapes is happy to see the end of Disneyland.
"It served its purpose and basically the last little while it has been a bit of an eyesore for our community," he said. "And it's good that it's gone."
Mapes expects there will be public pressure on the housing corporation to develop the site.
"Obviously, when it's sitting empty there's going to be a push by the public to see something happen on it," he said.
No decision has yet been made on what will be replacing Disneyland.
Larocque said one possibility is that the land - four large lots - will be used to build 11 houses for members of the RCMP.
"If that project goes forward, that may be the site," she said.
In late February, the NWT Housing Corporation announced it is planning to provide 45 new housing units for the RCMP in five communities, including Hay River. The project would create revenue to operate and maintain public housing.
Larocque said the other option might be some type of multi-unit housing, such as duplexes or triplexes.
"Right now we're holding onto it because it is a good piece of land," she said.
Temporary fencing has been put up around the site because the ground is not level.
"We're just securing the site right now," said Larocque. "And once the snow is all melted, we'll have it all levelled out and take the fencing out. So it will be a vacant lot for a bit."
