The Cold Lake Seniors Lodge officially broke ground on June 30, 2016.
The 61-unit facility will be replacing the previous 40-year-old, 48-room lodge on 12 St., and features rooms three times the size of the preceding facility at 360 square feet.
Local dignitaries including members of the City of Cold Lake council, Town of Bonnyville council, Lakeland Lodge Association and the Seniors and Housing Minister Lori Sigurdson celebrated the start of construction.
“This is just a great day in Cold Lake,” said Coun. Vicky Lefebvre during the ground breaking ceremony. “Our seniors that have been living in some residences that are less than 110 square feet. We've had prisoners living in better conditions than our seniors.”
The project was awarded to Seko Construction, at a cost of $13.4 million. The province contributed $8.7 million through the Alberta Social Housing Corporation, with an additional $5.7 million contributed by both the provincial and federal government via the Investment in Affordable Housing Agreement.
It's been in the works for a number of years, and since the ground breaking ceremony last summer, has seen the completion date bumped to mid-2018, due to construction delays.
Vice-chair of the Lakeland Lodge and Housing Board Chris Vining said in October it is “fun to see the walls and stuff going up on it, because people can start appreciating the size of the project.”