A Place to Gather
Sioux Valley’s new community centre
helps fill an infrastructure gap
Once the COVID-19 restric-tions
on gathering sizes lift,
those who gather on the
Sioux Valley Dakota Nation
can leave their coats and thick sweaters
behind. In the past, groups met at the
drafty Veterans’ Hall in the 2,000-person
community located about 40 minutes west
of Brandon. Now folks will get together
at the new 4,000-square-foot community
centre that opened Oct. 1.
Sioux Valley’s new community centre
was constructed by Brandon-based Keller
Developments, a multifaceted builder that
started taking on projects in 2010. “We met
with the Sioux Valley community in the fall
of 2019, to discuss their requirements and
what we could do in terms of design,” said
company president Evan Keller. He says
that his firm brings much to the table.
“We have a lot of experience in
commercial structures, in addition
to residential buildings. We also have
capabilities such as in-house design
and 3D rendering. Our crews are highly
experienced as well,” he said, mentioning
that many of the skilled trades and workers
have been with Keller for the 10 years they
have been in business.
The new building has office spaces,
a conference centre and a massive
kitchen. Plans are to use the structure
for programming and training with a
range of agencies involved. The building
will also be a place where elders and
others in the community can meet in a
comfortable setting.
The building was the result of
considerable community consultation.
Sioux Valley Dakota Nation Chief Jennifer
Bone told Brandon Sun, “One of the things
that came up on most of their (program
managers’) lists was a community or
resource centre.”
The new facility is also a result of the
2019 federal collaborative self-government
fiscal policy for 25 self-governing First
Nations. The policy’s goal has been to
ensure ongoing and sufficient financial
resources are available to deliver public
services that are comparable to those
offered in non-First Nation communities
and to close gaps in physical, social, cultural
and human capital. The new community
centre covers gaps in infrastructure and
social well-being. “We actually had to do
a gap-closing plan,” Chief Bone told the
Brandon Sun. “We had to identify in our
community how we would spend those
funds to address the gaps.”
According to Keller, the design phase
took several months and began in the
fall of 2019. After input from several
organizations and local groups, the
plans were ready in February of this year
and shovels hit the ground that month.
Completion of the structure and its unique
teepee design happened in October
when Keller handed over the keys to the
finished building.
“Any time when you can bring a
community together, this is a valuable
experience. We saw how involved Sioux
Valley groups were getting this project off
the ground,” he said.
The project was a design/build and
sole-sourced to Keller following Sioux
Valley’s consultation phase. Construction
is a wood frame on slab and Keller says they
used conventional materials to complete
the job on time and within budget.
By Kelly Gray
PHOTOS COURTESY OF KELLER DEVELOPMENTS 42 | Issue 2 2020 www.carm.ca
/www.carm.ca