First Nation breaks ground on events centre

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This article was published 12/05/2023 (861 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Waywayseecappo First Nation is growing its economic footprint in Brandon with a new conference centre, to be built next to the community’s gas bar north of the city.

While developers broke ground on the project last week, members of Waywayseecappo council hosted a sod-turning ceremony at the site Thursday afternoon, telling the Sun they hope to get the 25,000-square-foot facility up and running in 18 months.

Chief Murray Clearsky told a small crowd at the ceremony the new facility is part of the First Nation’s broader campaign to carve out its financial independence in Westman.

“There’s a lot more that we can do as developers, as chief and council of Waywayseecappo, and you can see a good example right here,” Clearsky said, referring to the nearby gas bar that opened in July 2020.

“We have seven acres right here, and you can see what we developed.”

The Waywayseecappo Center will be much larger in scope compared to the gas bar, as it consists of two portions that are designed to accommodate Indigenous groups in need of large indoor gathering space outside of their home communities.

The first single-storey section is a 17,000-square-foot conference room that can fit around 300 people and offers amenities through a kitchen, canteen and VLT lounge.

The second two-storey portion is around 8,600 square feet of rental office space.

According to a small-scale model that was on display at Thursday’s ceremony, the exterior of the building will be covered in floral beading and quilt work patterns to pay tribute to Anishinaabe culture, with the main entrance aligning with the Ojibwe tradition by facing east.

Waywayseecappo chief and council hired Samson Engineering to design the centre in early 2022, believing it was time to offer Indigenous groups in Westman better access to this kind of facility.

“The only other bigger meeting centre is in Winnipeg and … so it makes more sense to have a bigger space to meet here,” Coun. Laura Brandon told the Sun.

The conference centre is just the latest example of Waywayseecappo’s economic development strategy in the region. Over the last number of decades, the First Nation has opened several different businesses in Westman to create job opportunities for its members and generate money to invest back into the community.

This has been on full display since the grand opening of Waywayseecappo’s gas bar in Brandon three years ago, with the business attracting a steady stream of customers due to its lower fuel prices.

By adding another major attraction to the same plot of land, Clearsky is optimistic about the site’s potential as a major development hub, believing the space could also host a medical clinic or housing units.

For Brandon, she just hopes the Waywayseecappo Center can help secure more financial prosperity for her people, including her two-year-old grandson Sinte who took part in Thursday’s sod turning ceremony.

“Because that’s who we’re doing it for, for the generations to come,” Brandon said.

Now that construction has officially begun, the group responsible for putting all the pieces together is ADVA Marketing and Consulting Inc., which has worked with Waywayseecappo on projects in the past.

According to ADVA project manager Shane Robb, concrete should begin pouring by the end of the month, which puts the project in good standing for a late 2024 completion date.

“This is great for the city of Brandon, it’s fantastic for the people of Wayway and it’s going to be a beautiful building,” Robb said.

» kdarbyson@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @KyleDarbyson