Land at Fifth Avenue and Rogers Street that was proposed, among other uses, for a seniors housing project by the Vimy Heritage Housing Society has been found contaminated and requires remediation work, Health and Social Services Minister Pauline Frost said last Thursday.

“Fifth and Rogers at this point in time, is not a place we want to build on,” Frost told reporters after question period last week, citing unspecified environmental concerns.

On this location’s undesirability, Vimy completely agrees.

‘Totally unsuitable’

Ranjit Sarin, the society’s president, told the Star Friday that when the site’s planner, Stantec Architecture, proposed a portion of the Fifth and Rogers land for the Vimy facility in 2016, the amount of space allocated was “totally unsuitable” for their needs.

“And we said that to the government. ‘If that’s the space, we don’t want it.’ So that’s where we stand,” Sarin explained.

The previous Yukon Party government was receptive to this feedback, he said. They were working together to assess alternative sites for the project when the new government was elected last November.

According to Sarin, Vimy sought to continue this work under the Yukon Liberals.

“When a new government takes over, we give them the opportunity to show their colours and see how well they do.”

So far, he said, the minister they have been working with – Energy, Mines, and Resources Minister Ranj Pillai – is “very co-operative” and deserves “full marks.”

As the functional plan for the Vimy project has already been completed, the society will meet with Pillai again to look at various locations that could accommodate the 75-unit, 80- to 100-person facility.

Locations in Whistle Bend, Riverdale and Copper Ridge have all been put on the table, Sarin said.

The housing facility will provide seniors with the opportunity to live independently while enjoying certain supports like housekeeping and common meals.

$25-million budget

Vimy’s proposed $25-million budget for the project is comprised of a mortgage for the building and seed money from the territorial government, as well as federal grants and money collected from the facility’s clients.

The society hopes the Yukon government will provide the land for the project free of charge.

Unlike social housing, Sarin pointed out, this housing facility would not require money from the territory in perpetuity to finance operations and maintenance.

In fact, Vimy would pay back the money it hopes to receive from the government to establish the housing project very quickly, according to Sarin, based on their client revenue model.

It would also save the government money down the road by providing individuals a “better quality” and “healthier” life, thus lessening strain on government services like hospitals or long-term care homes, he explained.

At present, the Yukon Liberal government has not made any financial commitments to the project, according to Sarin.

As both parties have determined, albeit for different reasons, that the facility will not be built at Fifth and Rogers, identifying a new location for the Vimy project is the next step.

Only after they do so will a timeline and a potentially revised budget be established, Sarin said.

“If we have no land, we have no project. That’s the bottom line.”

Planning for Vimy’s supportive independent living facility has been in the works since 2011.