DAWSON CREEK – Residential Construction students from Northern Lights College and the South Peace Community Resources Society (SPCRS) celebrated the completion of the latest NLC home construction project with an open house on April 20.
Each year, the Residential Construction class builds a house as the practical portion of the Foundation trades training program.
This year, in cooperation with SPCRS and several community partners, the students constructed the new Reconnect House, a facility operated by SPCRS that provides programs and resources for youth in the South Peace region. The house is located on the site of the previous structure, at 904-103 Avenue in Dawson Creek.
“This was a great project for Northern Lights College. We were able to put back into the community in a big way, and help an organization achieve something that they might not have been able to achieve otherwise,” said Mark Heartt, Trades and Apprenticeship chair at NLC. “This has been a great project for the students. They learned what it feels like to donate to the community.”
During the open house, Arden Smith, department manager Family Safety, Counselling and Support Services for SPCRS, thanked the students for their work on the project.
“It’s been an amazing journey, watching you start from that hole in the ground back in October, and then to see this great facility. You can go away from this with a whole lot of pride in the work that you have done,” Smith said. “We extend our thanks and gratitude to the NLC Residential Construction training program and to the community for making this project happen.”
The result is a 1,300 square foot home that includes a living room, kitchen and dining room in the front, laundry facilities, washrooms and office space in the back. As has become common with NLC house projects, the structure is concrete from foundation to roof, with a high-efficiency furnace, hot water on demand, and an air-exchange system.
The students had some challenges on the project. Heartt said it was one of the smallest lots his students have worked on, but that it was a good learning process for when the students enter the workforce.
“Even backfilling was tough. We had to bring in special equipment, including a very small Bobcat. The students got to see what to do in very tight conditions,” Heartt said.
A number of industry and community partners made the project possible through donations in support of the new Reconnect House. The partners will be recognized on a special Donor Wall in the house, and during a special Donor Recognition Day on May 11.
Partners included: R. Moch Electric, Rotary Clubs of Dawson Creek, R-Home Supply, Encana Corporation, Lakeview Credit Union, Larry Moody, Rick Pavlis Trucking, Aquastat Plumbing and Heating, Emco Corporation, School District 59, Aurora Concrete, City of Dawson Creek, Tryon Land Surveying, Big Valley Sand and Gravel, George Hauber, The Cat Rental Store, and Travel Professionals.
The open house also included a display of artwork by students in NLC’s Visual Arts program.
For more information on the new Reconnect House and the services available, contact SPCRS at 250-782-9174. For more information on programs available at NLC, check the website at nlc.bc.ca, or call 250-782-5251.
Arden Smith of SPCRS accepts the keys to the
new Reconnect House from Mark Heartt and
the Residential Construction class.
The front of the original Reconnect House on
the day it was demolished.
The front of the new Reconnect House.
An open house was held on Friday, April 20
to unveil the new Reconnect House.