Construction marvel

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The Treaty 4 Governance Centre is more than just another building.

It's a home to a First Nations government and bureaucracy, and its construction was the result of years of effort by First Nations people on and off the drawing boards.

For Garry Bosoged, its completion earlier in September was more than a dream come true. It ended nearly a decade of planning and replanning, of design and construction, but it also began a process that will greatly reshape the Fort Qu'Appelle community.

"This is a great thing for the town of Fort Qu'Appelle and it is spawning other people talking about other projects such as the new Fort Qu'Appelle Indian Hospital," said Bosoged, the president and owner of Regina-based Bosoged Project Consultants, who oversaw the facility's construction.

His company will also do the same for the upcoming Fort Qu'Appelle Indian Hospital, which will be built nearby on the town's south end.

"I think you'll see some other interesting architecture out here," he added.

The first plans for the Treaty 4 Governance Centre were shown almost a decade ago, and the company has been involved in the plans for the facility almost from the start, says Bosoged, a member of the Peepeekisis First Nations.

"We were involved in the original concept which Grand Chief Bellegarde showed eight or nine years ago as far coming up with a site. We've been around this for almost a decade."

The $7 million facility is built on a curve, as if to nestle into the hollows of the Qu'Appelle Valley. Its most striking feature is a 70-foot-tall cone built to resemble a tipi, which houses the chiefs' legislature.

The new facility was built on time and on budget, "practically to the last second and the last penny," he said. Treaty 4 Commemoration Day "was the day we'd said we'd have the opening and we did have the opening."

The building's design reflects not only the surrounding countryside but also traditional First Nations values, said Bosoged. But that doesn't mean the design and construction were easy.

"This structure is one of a kind," he added. "There's no other place to go to test your engineering design theories for this.

"It is a little more complex because of the large curve. It's designed with concrete and steel in mind, which made it less of a challenge. It's a little bit of a premium in something that shape to look so good," he added.

"Our goal was to create a powerful and uplifting space and it certainly has come across that way."

Building and engineering the new facility is also an honor for someone from the Peepeekisis First Nation, he added.

"My ancestors were some of the original signatories of Treaty 4. It's a great honor and a testament to both on-and off-reserve First Nations people who brought this together.

"And it's deeply and personally gratifying to be involved."