Council voted to support the Fort McKay Métis Community Association’s (FMMCA) request to fund and own the rural hamlet’s new pavilion at a cost of $6.5 million.
They also had the option to have the FMMCA own and operate the pavilion themselves or for joint ownership with the community providing $1.8 million towards the project.
Ron Quintal, president of the FMMCA, addressed council at the meeting on Nov. 13, 2018.
“From a funding perspective, Fort McKay is the most under serviced municipal community,” said Quintal. “When I say that, I mean the fact the municipal end of town and municipal presence is minimal.”
This was also addressed at the Council meeting on Jan. 23, 2018 when the Fort McKay Area Structure Plan identified that there was a lack of community recreation amenities.
Administration is now being directed to work with the FMMCA to take ownership.
Quintal is hoping that through this new partnership with the Municipality the new pavilion will help show the rest of the municipality and the world what Fort McKay has to offer.
“We could hold festivals, cultural events, teaching events, communication sessions, the list goes on and on and on,” said Quintal. “The facility in itself would be an indoor and outdoor facility, meaning in the summertime we could open up huge garage doors to bring in the natural air which means you could create a breeze, at the same time in the winter you could close those doors and fire up the furnace for the purposes of having events and venues in the winter.”
The building would serve as indoor recreation centre and be used during Fort McKay’s Métis and Treaty day celebrations which see between 1000 and 5000 people visit the community annually.
Besides promoting cultural events, Quintal said the FMMC sees the pavilion as a stepping stone toward “the crown jewel that is the RMWB” which is hoped to be completed by August 2019.
