A process that got underway nearly four years ago with a rezoning application approved by members of the previous council took one step closer to becoming reality July 6 when the provincial and federal governments announced that they would contribute $2.25 million towards Lions Manor 55, a seniors housing complex on Station Road.
The confirmed funding is the same amount that was pledged on a conditional basis by the previous NDP government prior to it being defeated in the April 2016 election, and represents about one-third of the cost of the 32,000-square-foot complex, which is planned to have 30 one- and two-bedroom units and is the first co-operative housing project in Manitoba’s north, according to Thompson MLA Kelly Bindle.
“It’s just a really great community-driven project and there’s obviously a need for it and there’s a lot of support for it,” said provincial Families Minister Scott Fielding, who took part in a ceremonial sod-turning with Bindle and Lions Manor 55 board president Nick DiVirgilio. “Sometimes what has to happen, too for people to embrace projects like that, you kind of give it a little seed money to get it going and you’ll have a lot of people that may want to downsize or what have you, stay in the community and this is another opportunity for them to do it so we’re happy that we can again work with the community and be a part of it.”
The funding was provided through the federal-provincial Investment in Affordable Housing (IAH) agreement.
“Supporting Canada’s seniors is a cornerstone of our government,” said federal Minister of Families, Children and Social Development Jean-Yves Duclos in a press release. “The government of Canada is pleased to partner with the province of Manitoba in fulfilling our mandate of delivering for seniors and ensuring they have access to safe and affordable housing. Today would not be possible without the hard work of the Thompson Lions Senior Manor Non-Profit Housing Cooperative Inc., and we are proud to work with our valued partners to deliver quality housing options.”
Several future residents of Lions Manor 55, which is expected to be completed in 2018, were on hand for the sod-turning, and the contractor for the construction is A&B Builders of Thompson.
“Not only is a northern company building northern housing for northern residents, but they did it following the provincial guidelines for tendering,” said Lions Manor 55 board member and city councillor Penny Byer. “This is a very exciting project for us and it means so much to families in Thompson and it also means an awful lot to Thompson, not just because we’re going to provide or fill in a housing niche but also because it’s showing confidence in us at a time when we need that confidence most.”
“I know Nick was working on this for four or five years and never gave up and I want to thank him and the board of Lions Manor,” said Bindle. “It’s a first for the north. It’s a co-op housing, the first one in the north. I was at a co-op convention in Winnipeg and they said the first one’s always the hardest.”
Mayor Dennis Fenske, who was a councillor when the Station Road property was rezoned in August 2013, said when he was growing up if you saw someone in Thompson with grey hair they were likely visiting from out of town but that the city has changed.
“What it’s all about is the longstanding sustainability of our community moving forward and the changing demographics that we have,” said Fenske.
