$55.7 Million: New Multi-Purpose Building Cost

On Tetawartha the Partyline talkshow on K1037 today, the featured conversation was focused on the new multi-purpose building. A third increase in the cost of the cultural center construction is pegged at $55.7 million dollars at this point. So far, $35 million has been raised. Jessica Lazare on the long road to the building:

“We have an approved budget for the building, it has been a ling journey, a really long journey, a lot of work in order to get to where we are today. The budget for the building is, as of now, $55 million 746 hundred dollars. So, it’s definitely been raised exponentially, there’s obviously been a lot of factors, Covid was definitely a factor in how the costs have raised it up. There’s a lot of different things that are happening within the programming for the different organizations as well. You’re seeing a lot coming of KORLCC you see that theatre is starting their programming out for the youth center. We’re really excited about it, we’re really excite to see what this building is going to look. We’re in the design phase right now, so we’re still trying to finalizing some of the designs and concepts.”

Kimberly Cross from Kahnawake tourism on the price discrepancy on the construction:

“When we got back into the swing of organizing everything, during the pandemic, we were looking at what are the costs going to be for the project and we did have estimates coming in. So, our current budget that is at this $55 million, it was higher. So, the first estimates that were coming in were at $68 million, some were at $76 million, so, we did have to reduce it. It wasn’t by our choice that we have this huge, huge budget of $55 million, we did want to leave it at the original ’32’ that it was, however, it’s unrealistic with the skyrocketing prices of the construction industry and how everything has gone up.”

Lisa Phillips Executive Director of the KORLCC discusses the projects need: reduction in size:

“This is something that the community is in need of, this is what we need, this is what the community asks for when we look at the priorities that the Chiefs and Council set for their term which was language and culture and the building of this building as well. And through Collective Impact, language and culture was the 2nd priority listed and then also through the visioning statement of the community and we all know that we would love to be able to just learn our language and learn everything at the kitchen table and within our homes. but that’s not our reality anymore. And from that, that’s how the cultural center was developed through the needs of interested people.”

There is hope that the building will be fully accessible and carbon neutral.