Renderings showing the completed design of a unique affordable housing complex on shíshálh Nation land in Sechelt have been released, as have details about a groundbreaking ceremony tentatively planned for the end of September.
“Shíshálh Council is excited to be breaking ground on this sensational project. Our House of Clans will be an impressive building and is the precursor of good things to come for the shíshálh people,” said chief Warren Paull in a Sept. 8 release with updates on the project.
“This project is a fine example of what can happen when we work together; we thank our partners tsain-ko Properties and BC Housing who have worked hard to make this dream a reality.”
The ceremony will be by invitation only to adhere with COVID-19 public health protocols. It is expected to involve a land blessing with Nation dignitaries, project partners and members of syiyaya Reconciliation Movement – a grassroots group that has raised funds for reconciliation initiatives on the Sunshine Coast.
In 2018 the province pledged $6.8 million to build an affordable housing complex after tsain-ko Properties, a division of the Nation’s economic development arm, applied to the newly-established Building BC Indigenous Housing Fund. Mobius Architecture and Yellowridge Construction have also partnered on the project.
Construction is “tentatively planned for early October,” according to tsain-ko’s project and business development director Jason Jenkins, and completion is slated for spring 2022.
The 34 rental apartments will be situated at 5573 Sunshine Coast Hwy. in the vacant lot between Big Mac’s and Raven’s Cry Theatre, and will range from studios to three-bedroom family units, which will be available to Nation members only.
The building will contain a large multipurpose events room and community kitchen, amenities such as entertainment and fitness room, office space for community events and staff, underground parking and storage and a “Reconciliation Plaza” and gathering area.
On the ground floor, approximately 700 sq. metres (7,5000 sq. feet) will be leasable retail space, and Community Futures Sunshine Coast intends to lease about 435 sq. metres to create a “non-profit innovation centre,” according to the release.
Following the funding approval, planning got underway in January 2019 to take “a unique approach to social responsibility and reconciliation,” which has resulted in a “breakthrough affordable housing and reconciliation initiative,” said the release.
The name, Our House of Clans, “celebrates the rich cultural heritage of the shíshálh people [and] the interdependence and cooperation of the five clans (Bear, Frog, Orca, Wolf, Eagle).”
Several shíshálh Nation artists are featured in the building’s design.
Master Carver ?antuni Tony Paul designed and carved a totem called “Carving Tears into Dreams of Reconciliation,” which will be featured in the exterior plaza. It was developed and organized by the syiyaya Reconciliation Movement, and more than 1,500 people were invited to assist with the carving.
Paul also contributed designs for the building’s exterior artwork, including “Double-Headed Eagle” and “Canoe of Animals” – each animal representing a family clan.
The housing complex will be situated at the location of the former St. Augustine’s Indian Residential School and the totem is meant to serve “as a symbol of the journey we are continuing on the path towards reconciliation,” according to the syiyaya Reconciliation Movement.
In the Sept. 8 release, the group congratulated and thanked tsain-ko Properties and members involved in the project.
“We are thankful to tsain-ko for allowing syiyaya to carve this pole in the right way in honouring survivors past and present and bringing the greater community with us through reconciliation,” the group said.
“The development will not only benefit the shíshálh Nation but will be an integral part of building the greater community of ch’atlich (Sechelt).”
