Capital building plans stalled

ANNETTE BOURGEOIS

Iqaluit residents may get the chance to have a say in the development of the capital afterall, if the Town follows through with the recommendation of its own development committee.

After a special meeting this week, the committee is expected to recommend greater public consultation over the location of new office buildings to house Nunavut’s expanded bureaucracy.

Federal representatives had hoped to get approval from the committee Wednesday for one of three preliminary plans for infrastructure development in Iqaluit.

Sixty residents crowd chambers

Only three of the councillors who sit on the development committee attended the meeting. But 60 residents crowded into the council chamber to hear what’s being proposed for the busy intersection where Ring Road crosses Airport Road.

That’s where the representatives from the federal Department of Public Works propose to erect new office buildings for federal employees and those of the future Nunavut government.

The representatives said they need to have the basic concept for the office buildings approved by the end of the summer so that architects can begin work on the final designs.

Three options

On Wednesday, the representatives outlined three options, all of which assume construction must take place in the so-called “four corners” area of town, close to the post office and the banks.

The first option would be to build a single two-storey building for federal government employees behind the Parnaivik building, on an empty lot owned by the federal government. A separate two-storey, wedge-shaped building for Nunavut government employees would be erected on residential lots currently used for housing RCMP staff.

Option number one envisions parking space behind the government buildings and across the street. Federal government representatives admitted this was their least-favored option.

Under the second option, the Nunavut government building would be erected on the federal lot behind the Parnaivik building, but extended into the lot owned by the Kakivak Association, the development arm of the Qikiqtani Inuit Association (QIA).

The new federal building would go up where RCMP housing is currently located, with parking directly across the street, a block north of the busy intersection.

Federal representatives favor a third option, which also provides new space for the Town of Iqaluit.

Under this option, the Nunavut government and the Municipality would each be housed in separate three-storey buildings, erected on lots currently occupied by the Hunters and Trappers Association, the municipal garage and Nunavut Arctic College.

The federal government building would, under this last scenario, be situated on federally owned lots behind the Parnaivik Building.

Each of these options foresees the need for 259 parking spaces.

Concern about traffic congestion

“My feeling is that the traffic congestion downtown on that four-corner lot development is not conducive to community growth,” Iqaluit MLA Ed Picco said.

Lazarus Arreak, president of the QIA, and Nunatsiaq News publisher Steven Roberts also voiced concerns about the location of the new buildings. Roberts, speaking on behalf of Iqaluit’s trade and promotions office, urged the committee to consider reserving a special district for capital development.

The committee is expected to recommend to Town Council that a public meeting be held to discuss all three options in more depth. Council will meet Tuesday to consider the committee’s recommendations.