The fate of a new 20-unit seniors’ housing complex for Flin Flon may be up in the air.
At least 10 months after receiving a design for a planned seniors’ complex on Hemlock Drive, the PC government is releasing no further details other than to say the project is under review.
In June 2016, the PCs indicated they would follow through on an NDP-era plan to build a new seniors’ complex at
4 Hemlock Drive.
Three months later, the province confirmed it had received a design for the building along with estimated construction costs.
The Reminder asked the province for an update on the Hemlock project last week, noting that some people are wondering whether the complex is still going to proceed.
A Manitoba Housing spokesperson responded with a one-line answer: “This project remains under review by the province at this time.”
Asked by email to be more specific on the question of whether the Hemlock facility will proceed, the spokesperson did not respond.
Flin Flon MLA Tom Lindsey said he has been unable to get a straight answer on the status of the project.
He said he received correspondence last fall from a Manitoba Housing director who informed him the Hemlock facility was part of a provincewide review of all capital projects.
“At that point in time, everything was still under review,” Lindsey said. “So since then they’ve announced some things are going and some things are not, but there’s been no official announcement with what’s happening with that particular project.”
He said he would like to remain optimistic that the project will proceed, but he also questioned the PC government’s willingness to spend significant dollars in the North.
“Maybe it didn’t get approved for this year. Maybe there’s still hope that it will get approved for next year,” Lindsey added.
Lindsey said he would continue to seek answers, noting the “huge demand” for seniors’ housing in Flin Flon remains a reality.
Based on the design commissioned by the province in 2016, the two-storey Hemlock complex would include 20 easy-access suites along with common spaces.
The building would be situated beside an existing seniors’ complex at 2 Hemlock Drive. Construction would require the demolition of the province’s derelict low-income family housing unit at 4 Hemlock Drive.
In speaking to The Reminder in September 2016, a Manitoba Housing spokesperson said the design and cost estimate would “be reviewed before the project can move forward” and that until this happened, “we can’t speculate on when demolition [of the current building] or new construction would begin.”
Under the NDP plan, residents living at the new complex were to pay 27 per cent of their income as rent, the same as at 2 Hemlock Drive. There was no indication that plan changed under the PCs.
The province evacuated the current 4 Hemlock Drive family housing complex in 2012, citing safety concerns with the building that were deemed too costly to repair.
Neither the NDP nor the PCs announced plans to replace the 14 low-income family units lost when 4 Hemlock closed.
