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Construction of Shuswap Healing Centre delayed after artifacts found on Sicamous site

Discovery means further permits have to be applied for
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A conceptual design of the Shuswap Healing Centre being constructed at 200 Main St. (District of Sicamous image)

Construction of the Shuswap Healing Centre won’t get underway until the spring of 2024 as archaeological discoveries of pre-colonial artifacts have put a delay on plans.

Bryan Mar, project manager with Axis Projects, and Will Woodward, general manager of Scott Builders Inc., presented the health centre’s current update to Sicamous council at its Dec. 14 meeting.

The development permit for the health centre was approved in October of this year and geotechnical work has been completed.

But the plans have been stalled after an archaeological investigation found around 350 pre-colonial artifacts on the health centre’s proposed land.

This discovery means further permits have to be applied for and granted through the B.C. government.

As well, additional studies will need to be conducted on the artifacts and the land.

A third-party provincial government consultant will have to visit the property to document the artifacts and classify the site.

The start date for the health centre’s construction will be pushed back because of this, which did cause some concern from council about related additional costs.

Mar said the project will have an updated budget in 2023 to reflect rising costs, and acknowledged the archaeological investigation will likely have an additional cost associated with it.

The new timeline for the health centre includes stakeholder engagement, from between January and September 2023.

The archaeological investigation may take until November 2023, but could be completed faster.

A detailed design and building permit approval are anticipated in December 2023, and construction may begin in the spring of 2024, once the weather allows.

The health centre will host a primary health clinic, community use areas, residential apartments for visiting practitioners to live in, a healing area dedicated to Splatsin and other Indigenous practices, and various areas that can be designated for other medical use.

READ MORE: Shuswap Healing Centre: Conceptual design revealed for planned Sicamous building

READ MORE: Pre-construction phase of Shuswap Healing Centre project green-lit


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Rebecca Willson

About the Author: Rebecca Willson

I took my first step into the journalism industry in November 2022 when I moved to Salmon Arm to work for the Observer and Eagle Valley News. I graduated with a journalism degree in December 2021 from MacEwan University in Edmonton.
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