While work has already been underway for a few months, the Slocan Valley Housing Society is inviting you to a celebration today to mark the start of a housing project in Slocan.
“It’s in lieu of a groundbreaking because the ground was broken in December,” said society chair Sally Mackenzie. “It’s a fairly informal, family-friendly event. We just wanted to mark the occasion of actually the construction actually getting underway.”
The event begins at 1 p.m. Speakers will be on hand from the Village of Slocan, BC Housing, and the Columbia Basin Trust, and North Mountain Construction will offer guided tours of the site at 903 Hume Street.
The project has two buildings and crews are in the midst of adding the second storey to the first building and putting up the first storey on the second building.
Mackenzie said in most years, starting in late December wouldn’t have been practical, but this past winter was so mild, with very little snow, “so it did make things move along pretty fast.”
Mackenzie said although they are a little ahead of schedule, they are trying not to get too excited yet.
“The walls going up and the roof going on is sort of the fast part,” she said. “All the interior finishing work takes a lot longer. But it’s sort of heartening to see the walls going up.”
Once completed, the project will have 10 suites, consisting of four three-bedroom units, two two-bedroom units, and four one-bedroom units. They will be open to anyone having trouble finding rental accommodation in the Slocan Valley, including families, seniors, and people with disabilities. Some suites will be wheelchair accessible.
Mackenzie said they have already been fielding inquiries from prospective tenants. They are taking a list of names and email addresses, but applications aren’t expected to be accepted until late summer.
The seeds of the project date back to a study conducted in 2019. Construction began last Dec. 29 and is expected to be complete in March 2027.
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