Richard Froese
South Peace News

Pleasantview Lodge in High Prairie will celebrate the start of an expansion project with a kick-off Aug. 21.

Heart River Housing will host the new construction open house at 11 a.m.

A brief ceremony starts at 11:30 a.m. followed by a barbecue at noon.

“This is a chance for people to come out and see what’s happening with the project,” HRH CAO Lindsay Pratt says.

“We’ll have some tours of the project.”

He says the event will focus on Heart River Housing and Plesant- view Lodge and not be political.

“We wanted to have a sod turning in June but we couldn’t because of COVID-19 restrictions.”

That included no large gatherings.

“We will also have our board members available to answer questions and discuss the project,” Pratt says.

Another activity will be part the event.

“We will also promote our fundraiser to upgrade our greenhouse and extend our walking trails and landscaping around the site,” Pratt says. (Read related story about the fundraising project.)

The project to construct a two-storey wing with 20 units is progressing on target.

“We’re actually two weeks ahead of schedule,” Pratt says.

The shell will start to take shape in late August. Framing for the main floor is scheduled to start before September, rather than early September as originally planned.

“The walls are being prefabricated in Edmonton,” Pratt says.

“They’re scheduled to be delivered around Aug. 23.”

Project contractor Stuart Olson Construction plans to start roofing Dec. 3.

The project is scheduled to be complete by August 2022, the contractor says.

Interest in the additional units continues to grow.

“We already have 26 applications for the 20 units,” Pratt says.

“But we still encourage interested people to contact the lodge for an application.”

Most of the construction traffic is travelling along 42 Street from Highway 2.

Stuart Olson Construction has co-ordinated deliveries to avoid back-to-back trucking, Pratt says.

Applications for the new units are available at HRH central office at 5401 48th St. and at Pleasantview Lodge at 4600 Pleasantview Drive.

Anyone interested in the new units may also contact Pleasantview Lodge manager Linda Peterson by email at linda@heartriverhousing.ca or Pratt by email at lindsay@heartriverhousing.ca.