Wildlife group donates money for Iqaluit aquatic centre mural

Vicki Sahanatien of World Wildlife Fund Canada hands over a $15,000 cheque Nov. 21 to help the City of Iqaluit pay for its proposed new aquatic centre. (PHOTO BY DAVID MURPHY)

The people behind that iconic panda symbol are helping inch Iqaluit’s $40-million aquatic centre toward reality.

Vicki Sahanatien, who works for World Wildlife Fund Canada, handed over a cheque Nov. 21 to pay for an “Arctic marine-themed mural” at the proposed pool.

Sahanatien told a group of about 10 people at a press conference at the Arctic Winter Games arena that she’s excited about the prospect of educating youth through the mural.

“We really want to introduce them to the biodiversity that exists here and I’m hoping the mural will show a lot of the components of sea ice, algae, plankton, jelly fish, clams, fish, whales, seals, polar bears and even Greenlandic sharks,” Sahanatien said.

Amy Elgersma, the City of Iqaluit’s recreation director and REACH committee chairperson, accepted the cheque on behalf of the REACH Committee, the aquatic centre’s fundraising group.

Sahanatien said the money comes from the WWF’s and Coca-Cola’s Arctic Home campaign.

The beverage company also pays for Sahanatien’s job as the WWF’s senior officer for government and community relations in Iqaluit.

What the mural will look like, and who will design and produce it, is still unknown.

A panel from the REACH committee will make those decisions sometime in 2014, Elgersma said.

REACH has raised more than $300,000 dollars for the aquatic centre, said Elgersma, 10 per cent of its goal of $3 million.

“The mural will feature marine life found in Frobisher Bay and will help ensure that the local marine environment culture and traditions are represented visually in the centre,” Elgersma said, adding it’s important that the theme represent the city’s natural ecosystem.

Sahanatien couldn’t agree more.

“The arctic marine mural is a really great opportunity to showcase Frobisher Bay because it’s a super important ecosystem. We rely on it a lot here for our sealift or our food,” Sahanatien said.

City councillor Kenny Bell, an outspoken critic of the costly infrastructure project, attended the press conference and said later he expected more money from the announcement.

“I’m not going to say I don’t appreciate it. But I was thinking, I was hoping — it seemed like there was going to be a big announcement,” Bell said.

“$15,000 really wasn’t that big,” he said.

Bell said he doubts he’ll ever support the aquatic centre under it’s current form, because the city “can’t afford it.”

“I support a pool, and I want a pool. If we turned around tomorrow and said we’re going to build a $20-million pool, I would mostly likely jump on board with that,” Bell said.

“Even if we have the $40 million to build it, we don’t have $4 million a year extra to maintain it. And that’s where it hurts. We’re going to be feeling it for a long time to come.”

The pool is slated to be completed in 2016 and cost up to $40 million. Earlier this year, Iqaluit city council approved design firm Stantec Architecture Ltd.’s schematic plans for the aquatic centre.