Other Manitoba and Saskatchewan Developments

[joelpiecowye]

i didn't know where to put this so i decided to make a new thread on this, besides i think we need a thread for prince albert, moosejaw, swift current, the battlefords etc.

BTC plans heritage theme park
Cassandra Kyle, The StarPhoenix
Published: Saturday, April 26, 2008
THE BATTLEFORDS -- Russ Brown's desk is busy with papers, reports and memos detailing the Battleford Tribal Council's efforts to support community development and the region's economy.

He pulls a recent report from a shelf behind his computer and opens it to illustrate the types of business the BTC is involved with in the province. There's Dwight's Trenching, Jackfish Lodge, MGM Communications and Avord Tower in downtown Saskatoon and several more examples of companies that employ more than 600 aboriginal and non-aboriginal people in the province.

Business developments with the BTC, which today represents just the Little Pine, Poundmaker, Lucky Man and Mosquito First Nations, change and grow on a regular basis, Brown said. But there's a project on the horizon that has the potential to draw fresh attention to the BTC and The Battlefords.


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Font:****"If this is completed as initially designed, I suspect that this will be a landmark that will become instantly recognizable throughout North America and beyond," he said of council plans to build a First Nations heritage theme park on BTC land in North Battleford's southeast quadrant.

"We intend to make it go ahead."

Planning for the park, which would stretch from North Battleford to Finlayson Island in the river and over again to land on the Battleford side, is still in its early stages, but initial concepts have been drawn up by a Saskatchewan architectural firm. The project includes a medicine wheel, powwow grounds, amphitheatre, lodges, teepee village and a bridge in the shape of a bow and arrow that crosses Highway 16.

Brown said although the park is a First Nations-initiated project, the BTC will work with the community to turn the project into a reality.

"We intend to work in consultation and co-operation with the city and the town so this is part of the bigger development," he said.

"We don't see the First Nations as being islands unto themselves," Brown said about the council's role in the greater community. "The opportunities are in developing strategic partnerships, strategic business relationships with the government, with private industry, with the communities that we share."

With the First Nations population in the area increasingly becoming a major part of the labour force in the area and BTC companies expanding their holdings, Brown believes there's good things ahead for the council.

"The (park) is part of the reason for optimism looking forward to some of the things we want to do in this community

did anyone hear about this yet? if you did could u decribe some info on it.