Student to get new residence with help from McKay-Irving

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Students attending the Northern Teacher Education Program (NORTEP) and the Northern Professional Access College (NORPAC) will soon have access to affordable housing, thanks to a project to renovate the McKay-Irving apartment buildings into subsidized student housing.

The northern college will spend $1.3 million-provided by the provincial government and a generous anonymous donor-to renovate the buildings, which had developed a nasty reputation for poor living conditions and careless tenants.

NORTEP director Elie Fleury hopes to have one building ready for occupancy within two months, and the other within six months.

In the end, the two 24-unit buildings will house about 86 of the college's 125 students.

"This initiative gelled about two years ago, and we're finally seeing it developed and come to an end," said Fleury at the funding announcement July 11 in La Ronge, where beaming officials signed the funding agreement.

NORTEP and NORPAC are post-secondary institutions based in La Ronge. They are run by a board of representatives from member organizations, including northern school divisions and First Nations.

The provincial government is providing $250,000 from the Northern Development Fund for a loan mortgage, and another $650,000 from the Centenary Fund, contributions which Northern Affairs Minister Buckley Belanger called an investment in northern people.

Another $460,000 comes from an anonymous donor, and Fleury would give absolutely no hints about the source. Not even the chair of NORTEP's board, Bruce Ruelling, knows; he declined the offer to be told.

The rents will be low for students, said Ruelling, but NORTEP will still make some money.

"By owning our own apartments, the rental revenue can go back into the (teaching) program," he said.

Fleury said they forecast the mortgage will be paid within five years.

Former Northern Affairs Minister Keith Goulet said a student residence had been a dream for many years, hearkening back to a plan that was shelved in 1979-80. Belanger noted that Premier Lorne Calvert was pleased to hear that the funding would make it a reality.

The transition to new ownership has not gone smoothly, Ruelling said, noting that there had been some unexpected vandalism by tenants, to whom the previous owner had given eviction notices weeks before.