Interpretative centre a great introduction to new park

”We had to make it accessible and welcoming”

By SARAH ROGERS

Construction is underway in Kangiqsuallujjuaq on the $2.3 million interpretive and administrative centre for Kuururjuaq park, which is expected to be completed in December. (PHOTO BY PASCAL POULIN)


Construction is underway in Kangiqsuallujjuaq on the $2.3 million interpretive and administrative centre for Kuururjuaq park, which is expected to be completed in December. (PHOTO BY PASCAL POULIN)

An artist’s rendering of what the Kuurujuaq park’s new head office and interpretation centre will look like when it’s finished. (IMAGE/NUNAVIK PARKS)


An artist’s rendering of what the Kuurujuaq park’s new head office and interpretation centre will look like when it’s finished. (IMAGE/NUNAVIK PARKS)

When you’re in the community of Kangiqsuallujjuaq, you’re not yet inside Nunavik’s Kuururjuaq park.

But the park’s future interpretive centre and headquarters in Kangiqsualujjuaq will offer a warm welcome to people visiting the new provincial park located in and around the Torngat mountains.

Construction of the $2.3 million single-storey centre, which makes the most of local materials, native vegetation and natural sunlight, is well underway.

And the 3,560 square foot structure (350 sq metres) at the west end of the community should be completed before the end of the year.

The exterior of the boxy structure features broken lines and wood panels, highlighted by bright blue frames around the windows.

“We were looking for an energetic design,” said Daniel Cyr, a landscape architect with Groupe Rousseau-Lefebvre. “We had to make it accessible and welcoming to tourists from all over the world.”

From the entrance to the building visitors will have a panoramic view overlooking the taiga and mouth of the George River, said Cyr, whose Montreal-based firm is working in Nunavik for the first time.

The south-facing structure was designed to fit into the surrounding landscape, while, at the same time, promote a sense of discovery and exploration, Cyr said.

Inside, there will be offices for Kuururjuaq’s staff along with an exhibition to highlight the park’s geography, geology and cultural history.

That permanent exhibit has been designed by Quebec City’s Groupe GID in collaboration with the local Asimauttaq cultural committee in Kangiqsuallujuaq and with the regional and provincial governments.

The interpretation centre will contain an office for the local landholding corporation as well as Mary Sam Annanack, the liaison agent between Kangiqsualujjuaq and the Torngat Mountains National Park, which hugs Nunavik’s border to the west.

While construction moves ahead, work did hit a few glitches along the way.

A contract with the original firm hired to build the centre fell through, after which architects from Smith-Vigeant and Groupe Rousseau-Lefebvre were hired to take over the project.

But they discovered they could not build on the original site set aside for the centre because of a previous agreement made with Hydro-Quebec.

The new site is still situated nearby the park’s garage— where the park offices are currently located— and nonetheless offers an impressive view overlooking the George River and its mountainous backdrop.

Nunavik’s second provincial park covers 4,400 square kilometres, from the Torngat mountains through to the Nunatsiavut border.

The Koroc River is the centrepiece of the new park, flowing 160 kilometres through a valley until the open sea.

Fittingly, Kuururjuaq means “becomes a very big river.”

Park officials have yet to announce Kuurujuaq’s official opening date.

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