'We'll still have the family atmosphere.'

Larga Baffin, which provides lodging, meals and transportation in Ottawa for patients and escorts from the Baffin Region, will move to new, much larger premises by March 2009.

The homey interior of Larga Baffin's present pair of houses, where framed collages on the walls feature snapshots of almost every person, young, and old, who have passed through its doors, doesn't reveal just how chronically overcrowded the patient residence has been since it opened.

Every year, up to 4,000 Baffin residents, mainly Inuit, pass through the Larga Baffin home. Some stay for two days, others remain for months.

The two Larga Baffin buildings, known as Larga One and Large Two, are nearly always at full capacity, so some end up staying in nearby motels or at Ottawa's Rotel residence.

The Nunasi and Qikiqtaaluk birthright development corporations built Larga Baffin after the contract to supply medical services to Baffin residents was moved from Montreal to Ottawa in the late 1990s.

Before Larga Baffin first opened in April, 2000, patients and escorts from the Baffin region boarded at the Rotel, which many said lacked the warmth, support and Inuit atmosphere of the former Baffin House in Montreal.

One expansion later, Larga Baffin has still been bursting at its seams.

The future Larga Baffin will have 81 beds, up from the current 54. Most of the rooms will be doubles, said Trudy Metcalfe, the longtime manager of Baffin Larga, but there will also be larger family rooms, an elevator, more offices for staff, a quiet room and a hair salon.

"It will be closer to a hotel style," Metcalfe said, "but we'll still have the family atmosphere."

Located on the west side of town, the new Larga Baffin will be closer to two of Ottawa's six hospitals.

The design of the new building was kick-started by a new 20-year, multi-million-dollar contract with Larga Baffin to provide services to patients and escorts in Ottawa.

The final cost of the new building's construction hasn't been determined yet, Melcalfe said.

Metcalfe hopes to see many Nunavummiut at Larga Baffin's current home at 1863 Russell Rd. for its June 28 open house in honour of the two Ottawa police force members who went to Nunavut earlier this year.

Sergeant Brad Hampson and Constable Louise Lafleur, who spent four weeks as temporary Mounties in Clyde River and Hall Beach, plan to speak about their experiences at the open house.

Lafleur and Hampson now serve as Inuit specialists for the Ottawa Police Service, passing on knowledge from their Arctic experiences to fellow officers.

The open house will also feature country food and entertainment, including a performance by Angipasi, Clyde River's break-dancers.

The open house runs from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. , Saturday, June 28.