IRC to begin building housing and youth centre in Inuvik

Inuvik’s council has given the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation the go-ahead to begin construction on a youth centre and residential area on the former Blueberry Patch site.

Cynthia Pihlaja, the town’s senior administrative officer, presented the proposal to council last week. She said the project includes a residential area on the Kugmallit portion of the property, while the Inuit Road area will be developed as a youth centre, daycare space, family support programming, and related offices.

In a meeting package provided to council members, the permit fees are expected to cost roughly $100,000 and the IRC estimates the development will cost more than $20 million.

Peter Scholz, Inuvik’s development officer, said the daycare component does not fully align with current zoning of the lot, but could be considered under a “clubs and lodges” discretionary use category of the town’s 2015 zoning bylaw.

Scholz said the IRC intends for the youth centre to be the primary use of the space, with daycare and office spaces as a potential secondary use.

Inuvik Mayor Peter Clarkson said council supports the additional housing, but said parking would need to be addressed before any apartment proposal moves ahead.

The IRC’s project is approved under two discretionary-use motions, which confirm the development’s “clubs and lodges” use for the youth centre and allow the IRC to use modular buildings.

Council’s approval of the project will also allow town staff to “go through what will probably be a fairly complex development permit process,” Scholz said.

Demolition of contaminated buildings on the site is expected to begin later this year.

Approached by Cabin Radio, the IRC said it had no separate update to provide on the project.

The IRC’s project is next to a separate federal initiative announced in April that plans to build 40 social housing units on the Blueberry Patch site.

The Blueberry Patch derives its name from the bright blue housing units that previously occupied the area.