Cambridge Bay to build $6M youth centre with local Inuit firm
Facility replaces centre lost to 2022 fire and will include Makerspace, arts, and traditional programming
A design rendering shows the new Cambridge Bay Youth Centre, set to open by late 2027. It will replace a former facility destroyed by a 2022 fire. Construction is being led by local Inuit-owned firm Qillaq Innovations, which recently signed a $5.8-million contract for the project. (Photo courtesy of Hamlet of Cambridge Bay/Vince Barter)
Construction of a new youth centre in Cambridge Bay is moving ahead after the hamlet signed a contract for the project earlier this month, marking a major step toward replacing a facility destroyed by fire in 2022.
The hamlet signed a $5.8-million construction agreement on March 11 with Cambridge Bay contracting company Qillaq Innovations, said Jim MacEachern, the community’s chief administrative officer.
He said $1.4 million comes from insurance related to the fire that destroyed the previous youth centre, and Kitikmeot Inuit Association is contributing $1 million.
Additional funding comes from the hamlet, the Government of Nunavut and the federal government’s Canada Community-Building Fund.
Design work for the building was completed earlier by Yellowknife-based architect Vince Barter and cost between $150,000 and $200,000, bringing the overall project cost to about $6 million, MacEachern said.
The previous youth centre burned on May 23, 2022, after children entered the unlocked building overnight and started a fire. No criminal charges were laid because the children involved were under the age of 12.
MacEachern said the loss of the centre for Cambridge Bay was comparable to the impact if Toronto were to lose the Rogers Centre, the stadium that’s home to the Toronto Blue Jays.
“It has that much of an impact on the community, and it’s been extremely noticeable since we lost the youth centre,” he said. “Bringing this in will go a long way to give more attention to youth and more options for youth.”
MacEachern said a temporary youth centre is operating out of a building on the grounds behind the high school.
The temporary facility serves about 25 to 30 youths per day, roughly half the number that attended the previous centre.
The new building will be nearly twice the size of the original facility.
“The old one was a duplex that was converted into a youth centre, so we were limited to what you can actually do within the unit,” MacEachern said. “This one is actually purpose-designed to be a youth centre.”
The design includes dedicated areas for arts and crafts, traditional activities, and a Makerspace focused on technology and computer programming.
Local youths were also involved in shaping the design through the hamlet’s Mayor’s Youth Advisory Council, which worked with municipal staff and the recreation committee to identify priorities for the new facility.
“The Makerspace area — that computer component — was key for a lot of the youths,” MacEachern said, noting that a previous Makerspace program run by non-profit Ampere in the community had strong participation.
The larger space will also potentially allow the building to be used by schools and daycare programs during the day.
Construction is expected to continue over the next two years, with the hamlet aiming to open the new facility by November 2027, “hopefully in time for Christmas,” MacEachern said.
Speaking in the legislative assembly on March 19, Cambridge Bay MLA Fred Pedersen welcomed the project.
“This larger building will offer more programming space and allow the youth of the community a place to hang out with friends and family in a safe and secure building while keeping them busy as they progress through their own life journeys, a space that is greatly needed at this time,” he said.
For MacEachern, the most important part of the project is the excitement it has generated.
“They’re all very excited, and we’re excited for them,” he said.
Great news! Congratulations and well done! Can someone figure out a way to build these centres in every Nunavut community? Thanks.
Agreed it’s great news … but someone has to figure out how to keep kids from burning important buildings down.
Having centres like this is how you stop that behaviour!
Keep Freddy’s hands of this one, he’ll want to turn it into a liquor store!
Must be crazy busy to own this business and be an NTI Director at the same time. Unless, of course, it’s just your name on some paper.
These facilities are much needed, but I hope they’re building them to be fire–proof.
Ok maybe the kids were under 12 that burned the old one down but where were their parents? They should be accountable for their kids’ actions? Millions of dollars in damage isnt exactly stealing a pack of gum from the Northmart.
Years ago I attended a session on the mitigation of youth suicide at a national suicide prevention conference where the speaker had analysed data from West Coast indigenous communities that had previously had high youth suicide rates. He looked at common fa tors in those successful communities and the top factor was each had built a youth centre and implemented youth programming. I am happy to hear this news from Cam Bay – it is a very good move forward. Where communities build such centres it is important that the GN partner with Inuit orgs and others to implement appropriate programming. Wish Cam Bay well. Alianait!
Good on Cambay for trying to tackle these needs on their own, but maybe try to finish one before starting another. Can we get an update on the arena that was started around 2015 and only going to cost about the same 6M dollars. I haven’t been there in a couple of years, but when I was there last the project was on hold. Hopefully this will find some more traction.
Same company involved.
10-12 million minimum. Or if it was Northern Quebec 120 Million.
Also the same company that got paid to remediate the old arena. How’d that go? Well according to CBC,
“The CAO said while there was “significant” remediation done in 2019 on the old arena to fix the mould issues, there still remains a mould problem”.
Calling Qillaq an “inuit firm” is laughable, as anyone who lives in, has lived in, or has ever worked with Qillaq knows.
The government needs to audit all of these so-called “Inuit firms” to ensure that they’re ACTUALLY Inuit-owned.
Anyone know how many square feet of space in the new Youth Center?
Well if the old building was a converted duplex, I would guess the old building was around 1250×2 = 2500 square feet. So if it’s double the size, I’d guess it’s going to be around 5,000 square feet. If you take a measurement on Google maps of the site, that would seem to be the maximum allowable space. So at $6 million, the bid is about $1200 per square foot.