Skip to content

Multi-purpose centre to unite community

Two years ago Keela Daniels celebrated her 16th birthday in Longview with all her friends and family. It was a milestone for the teen, but one that couldn’t be recognized in the community because of a lack of facilities.
Bearspaw Chief Darcy Dixon (right) and Eden Valley band councillors Rex Daniels(left) and Keith Lefthand dig in at the site where a community multi-purpose facility will be
Bearspaw Chief Darcy Dixon (right) and Eden Valley band councillors Rex Daniels(left) and Keith Lefthand dig in at the site where a community multi-purpose facility will be built.

Two years ago Keela Daniels celebrated her 16th birthday in Longview with all her friends and family.

It was a milestone for the teen, but one that couldn’t be recognized in the community because of a lack of facilities. However, a new community building planned in Eden Valley will change all that.

Keela’s grandfather, Rex Daniels, who is also a band councillor, said there are no places on the reserve for people to rent when they want to have get-togethers. A community centre in the heart of an isolated reserve west of Longview will provide a much needed meeting place for residents.

The 15,000-square-foot building will house a gym with a kitchen, a band office, youth centre, an area for early learning programs, an elder’s meeting room, offices for the band’s two councillors and an RCMP office.

The $2.5 million building is being funded through legal settlements the Stoney Nation received in past years. The funds were invested and have now grown to an amount able to fund the project, Daniels said.

“We have been waiting for this day for quite some time,” Daniels said.

He said the need for a new community centre has been discussed for about 10 years.

Daniels said the community used to have get-togethers in an old community centre up until the late 1980s. However, the old community centre burned down and there were few places to hold large gatherings, he said.

“We used to have Christmas feasts and Easter feasts,” he said. “Every holiday we used to celebrate together.”

Band councillor Keith Lefthand said he wants to see the community centre become a place where youth can learn about their culture.

“Our culture is very important,” he said. “Some people go to powwows every week, but this will allow more youth to participate. Money is always a problem here so if we bring it here it will give them more opportunities.”

He said he hopes to see drumming and singing lessons and wants the youth to learn cultural dances and how to make traditional clothing.

Crystal Lefthand, who has six children between the ages of 2 and 19-years-old, said it’s exciting they will have somewhere to go to socialize with their friends.

“I think it’ll be great,” she said. “My kids will go there. It gives them something to do.”

She will also work in the building. She is part of the Headstart program, which offers early education to children under the age of six. It is currently run in a building next to a daycare in Eden Valley. Health Canada contributed $300,000 towards the construction of the community centre and the program will move there when it opens.

However, the funds from Health Canada are all the public funding the project has received.

Bearspaw Band chief Darcy Dixon said they are putting together proposals for the provincial and federal government for grants to assist with furnishing the building and to help pay for the operational costs.

Provincial Aboriginal relations minister Robin Campbell was at the groundbreaking last week and said he was excited about the project, but couldn’t speculate on what level of support there could be for it.

“We haven’t had that discussion yet,” Campbell said.

He said a meeting is being planned with the Stoney Nation in the next couple of months and he expects funding for the Eden Valley community centre will be on the table during those talks.

The building is expected to open within a year’s time.

push icon
Be the first to read breaking stories. Enable push notifications on your device. Disable anytime.
No thanks