Elementary students in the Nisga’a village of Gitwinksihlkw in the Nass Valley are getting a new multi-million dollar gymnasium funded by the provincial government.
B.C. is spending over $6.3-million on the gym, which will be fully accessible and will be built with electrical and mechanical systems designed to limit greenhouse gas emissions. The school board is planning to add a gender-neutral washroom facility.
Construction will begin next summer, and is expected to be completed Sept. 2023.
“Having an accessible gymnasium at Gitwinksihlkw Elementary school will support us in meeting the needs of each child, while also having a space that will be available to the community for ceremony and celebration,” said Elsie Davis, Nisga’a School District board chair, in an Aug. 12 media release.
The gym will serve the community’s kindergarten-to-Grade 7 school which was built in 1995 without a gym. Students have been using the Ts’oohl Ts’ap Memorial Centre, which is a shared facility.
According to a provincial government media release, the gym will be available for community celebrations like Hoobiyee and the space will be used by the Wilp Wilxo’oskwhl Nisga’a Institute for post-secondary training, along with local sports teams, dance groups and others.
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