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Tender call extended by week for planned women’s shelter

The closing date for tenders to build a new women’s shelter in Hay River has been extended by a week.
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In 2018, Janet-Marie Fizer, left, chair of the board of the Family Support Centre, and Kristine Vannebo-Suwala, the centre’s executive director, stand in front of the just-demolished building which once housed a women’s shelter. A call for tenders to build a new shelter on the site has been extended for a week. NNSL file photo

The closing date for tenders to build a new women’s shelter in Hay River has been extended by a week.

The tender call had been originally set to close on May 27.

“From what I understand, it’s just that two of the contractors asked for a little bit more time,” said Janet-Marie Fizer, chair of the Family Support Centre, which is hoping to build the new shelter. “They actually asked for a two-week extension, which we didn’t feel we could do. So we gave them a one-week extension so we’d get good pricing.”

Despite the extension, Fizer is optimistic because there is interest from construction companies in the project, including the two which made the request for more time.

“There may be more that have actually pulled the documents,” she said.

Fizer said the interest makes her feel like the Family Support Centre is going to get some competitive pricing for the project.

She does not believe the extension will affect the planned start of the project in the third week of July or the completion expected by next spring.

“They’ve factored in time to evaluate,” she said. “So we should be good still.”

In April, town council approved a building permit for the proposed shelter on Riverview Drive on the site of a previous shelter demolished in 2018.

The Family Support Centre has a letter of intent from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation to fund most of the construction, after it has an opportunity to review the tenders.

Other financial support is expected from the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation and from the fundraising efforts of the Family Support Centre itself.

Currently, the Family Support Centre is operating a women’s shelter in a three-bedroom house owned by the Town of Hay River.

A new facility would contain nine bedrooms with a maximum occupancy of 18.

The Family Support Centre – then known as the Women’s Resource Centre – first began operating a women’s shelter at the Riverview Drive site in 1992.