Nunavik airport renovations on hold until 2018: MTQ

A view over the interior of Inukjuak’s new airport terminal. Renovations to fix structural deficiencies with the new building have now been put off until the summer of 2018, says Quebec’s transport department. (PHOTO COURTESY OF PEPIN FORTIN)

Residents of Inukjuak and visitors will have to wait another year before renovations are done to fix structural problems at the Nunavik’s community’s new airport.

The Hudson coast community of about 1,700 saw its tiny airport terminal upgraded and rebuilt in 2015-16 with funding through Quebec’s Plan Nord.

Though the terminal has been in operation since 2016, the Kativik Regional Government’s transportation department flagged a number of “major deficiencies” with the building shortly after it opened.

The department said the biggest issue is connection to the flow of water in the lower level of the building. That’s due to a leveling issue on the property, which creates a slope from the apron to the terminal which could result in water accumulation around the baggage door.

A spokesperson from Quebec’s Ministère des Transports said automatic doors installed in the new terminal have also malfunctioned, while the base of a piece of art in the terminal was damaged and needs to be replaced.

To remedy that, Quebec’s transport department and an independent engineering firm visited the terminal last May to determine what work needed to be done.

Renovation plans were initially set to occur this past summer, said the KRG, adding last week that they continue “to push this file as a priority.”

But now the province’s transport department said the work won’t likely happen until the summer of 2018.

In the meantime, “water infiltration has no impact on the day-to-day operations of the airport,” the department said in an email to Nunatsiaq News.

The $14-million building and an adjacent garage were built by Quebec firm Pépin Fortin.