Avalanche-ravaged gym to be torn down

MONTREAL — The last monuments to Kangiqsualujjuaq’s disastrous avalanche will be gone by autumn.

“Everything will be demolished and cleaned up,” said Maggie Emudluk, mayor of Kangiqsualujjuaq.

During a community gathering at Satuumavik School on New Year’s Eve 1999, an avalanche crashed into the building, crushing the gym and packing classrooms with snow. Nine residents died and many more were injured after being buried in the snow.

A new school has since been built and all other dwellings in the avalanche zone have been relocated to safer spots in the community.

This week, Quebec’s cabinet was expected to approve a plan to demolish the damaged gym and salvage an unused extension to the former school.

When the avalanche struck, the extension — with two floors divided into 16 classrooms — had just been completed.

Under the plan, the extension would be pulled to a location far from the avalanche-prone slope. The existing classrooms would be converted to social housing units.

“We should be able to make apartments out of them,” said Yves Poirier of Quebec’s housing board, la Société d’habitation du Québec.

The apartments will be one-bedroom units. Some may have an additional sleeping loft.

The Kativik School Board and Quebec’s education department were going to tear down the extension, but the municipal council suggested turning it into housing.

“We have a very big need for housing,” Emudluk said.

This week Quebec will consider whether to fund a $5.7 million community centre for Kangiqsualujjuaq. The community’s youth centre was damaged beyond repair when it was relocated from the avalanche zone.

The proposed 1,790-square-metre community centre would have areas for youth and elders, a visitors’ centre, and offices for community workers.