Who was more excited at the ribbon cutting Friday for Blizzard Mountain Place in Fruitvale: Kootenay Monashee MLA Steve Morissette or Lower Columbia Affordable Housing Society president Jan Morton?
Hard to say. Both have long been involved in the project. But Morissette did offer the louder flourish, capping his speech with: “Fruitvale, we did it! WOO-HOO!”
Morissette said it was “absolutely thrilling” to be present for the completion of the 31-unit rental housing complex after “10 years of meetings, planning, lobbying, and a whole lot of explaining to people.”
He said it began when he was a Fruitvale village councillor and then-mayor Patricia Cecchini suggested the village ought to buy the former Beaver Valley Middle School property, which lay dormant. Council agreed. It took a while, though, for specific plans for the site to develop.
Morissette said after he became mayor in 2018, he floated the idea of a housing project with Morton. “She didn’t even hesitate,” he said. “She was all in right away.” That’s when things really started to happen, Morissette added, but even then it was another five years until groundbreaking.
“It might look like this beautiful building just appeared overnight,” he told assembled dignitaries, “but we all know it took a mountain of hard work, persistence, and heart to get here.
“It really feels special to come home for something like this building. Blizzard Mountain is going to provide beautiful, dignified homes for people for decades to come. And after 10 years of planning, I think we can all agree this might be the best kind of blizzard we’ve ever had in Fruitvale.”
BC Housing provided $3.48 million for the project, the Columbia Basin Trust chipped in $742,000, a federal-provincial housing incentive fund contributed just over $1 million, and the Village of Fruitvale added $250,000 on top of providing the land. Kootenay Savings and Teck also provided funds.
Morton, who has been part of the housing society since its inception in 2013, said Fruitvale was identified early on as a priority for new homes, but the society’s first housing units were acquired or built in Trail and Rossland, including what is now Rossland Yards.
Blizzard Mountain Place was born out of a village planning process that began in 2020, which the housing society participated in. By the spring of 2021, they had the go-ahead to proceed to design.
“These projects take a while, not only due to the financial and funding constraints, but also because of BC Housing’s high design standards and particularly energy efficiency standards in these new builds,” Morton said.
The final green light came in late 2023 and excavation on the site began in early 2024.
Morton said they are now finding tenants who meet BC Housing’s eligibility criteria. They expect the first ones to move in around Dec. 1.
“The whole endeavor gives new meaning to that phrase, ‘It takes a village to raise a child,'” Morton said. “In our case, it’s taken many building partners to work together to create housing that meets the needs of our region and our village.”
The housing society will operate the three-storey building, which has a mix of one, two, and three-bedroom apartments. The contractor was North Mountain Construction of Taghum.
A 37-seat daycare also opened on the site two years ago.
