If you have been paying attention to local news, you would have heard that AVENS Pavilion Project was granted its Development Permit on Friday April 16th, 2021.
The receiving of a development permit from the City is a milestone for this project.
However, within the process of the development permitting process there was a 14-day appeal period. Unfortunately, on day 13, we had an appeal submitted to the City.
So what does this all mean?
Although, we are confident the Development Committee did everything in our power to prevent an appeal, unfortunately, democracy sometimes can get messy.
So the project is now going through an appeal process regarding the decision of the Development Officer. There is an arms length Development Appeal Board with established procedures that will review this appeal under the Community Planning and Development Act of the NWT. They are planned to meet on May 29th, 2021.
Confidence is high, but we must be patient. We know that our Development Committee adhered to all aspects of the City of Yellowknife’s development process and that we have extended many offerings of community consultation.
In fact, AVENS exceeded all aspects of what a good neighbour should do in a project of this scale, including keeping everyone well informed.
Once we hear the ruling of the Development Appeal Board, we are confident they will rule in favour of AVENS proceeding with our project.
So what should we expect later this spring and going into fall?
For starters, we would need to start with the grading and preparation of the lot. This will mean changes to the upper parking lot: removal of the garage structure, temporary set up of the generator, relocation of some resident parking, reduced staff parking and placement of safety fencing.
Then, we will have to remove a large portion of the blast rock from 2014. This will create the surface area, where we would begin to construct the foundation.
We are hoping that mother nature will be on our side, so the intention is to get as much of the foundation in place by late fall.
With winter arriving, we hope to be ready to begin the next phase of construction in early Spring of 2022.
Given some of the unforeseen delays with the design and permitting, AVENS Development Committee is suggesting that completion of the project is more likely to be in late 2023 now.
In recent news…
The Development Committee in coordination with our Board Chair Marion LaVigne, recently had a meeting with our MP, Michael McLeod.
The purpose of this meeting was to update our MP on some increase costs such as steel and lumber that we have seen due to Covid and to walk MP McLeod through our experience with the CMHC process.
It was noted via this meeting, that global production is not where it needs to be for the availability of construction materials, so there appears to be some delay with some items.
In the end, we are confident our MP will be keeping an eye on this file and will be in full support, as we commence the 2021 construction season.
There will be shovels in the ground very soon! Stay tuned.
It is always refreshing and rewarding welcoming a new group of young professionals.
Last week, AVENS was host to our newest group of first year Aurora College Nursing Students.
As tradition dictates, the Management Team took time out of our day to go and introduce ourselves to these new nurses in-training.
It is important these young professionals feel at home for their 6 week rotation and starting off with a warm welcome helps with the transition into their new careers.
AVENS is proud to host and looks forward to working with our Aurora College students and their instructors.
Last week, AVENS was the recipient of a good Samaritan with a flair for doing quilts.
In fact, Yellowknife resident, Mary Louise Gordon is the identity of this mystery donor.
It appears that Mary Louise loves to quilt, so much so, that she designed and sewed four beautiful quilts for AVENS.
The recreation staff immediately saw these quilts as an incredible addition to our bus program. So the next time you are on our bus and are snuggling up with a quilt, it is Mary Louse Gordon who deserves your “warm” well wishes.
Thank you Mary Louise!
AVENS Management Team are excited to announce that we have finally received the long- awaited GEMS Long-Term Service Award thank you gifts.
Like most items that depend on production, Covid has caused numerous delays in the availability of this year’s gift selection.
However, starting on May 5th, 2021 GEMS Long- Term Service Award recipients from 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 years of service lined up in the administration office to claim their bounty.
Here are a few of the happy and smiling heroes of our facility with their GEMS Long-Term Service Awards thank you gifts.
