Yahoo Movies New life for old school as Miawpukek's first community centre
They were destined for demolition, but last week the halls of Conne River's old school were alive again with the sounds of drumming and the smells of moose nose and caribou stew.
The Miawpukek First Nation's initial renovations of the school are complete, and the building reopened to the public on Friday as the Ta'n Etl-Mawita'mk Community Centre.
The First Nation government has kept the school gymnasium, and has updated the classrooms and hallways to transform them into meeting rooms, craft rooms, weight rooms and a community museum.
Colleen Lambert, the First Nation's tourism and culture director, says the new space allows for new opportunities — conferences, weddings and birthday parties — and has been a community dream for years.
"One of the things that's been at the top of the list for the last 20 years, if not more, has been a recreation centre or a community centre," she said. "And every year, we can never make that happen because community centres cost millions of dollars."
But that math changed four years ago, when Miawpukek's new school opened next to the powwow grounds. Chief Mi'sel Joe said federal officials wanted to tear down the former school building, but the First Nation had a different idea.
"The federal government offered us $500,000 for demolition," Joe said. "We said, 'Thank you very much, but we're not tearing down the school. We're going to save it.'"
Lambert says work on the building will continue to install new heaters, lighting and air conditioning systems, but the building was ready for a grand opening and community tour on Friday.
The community weight room is already in good shape, and Lambert said those machines — and the gymnasium — will help keep the community active during the long winter months.
The Glenn John craft shop will move into the building, and birchbark canoes, snowshoes and cultural information panels have already been installed along the building's main hallway.
Phoebe Keeping took her 12-year-old son, Alexander, to the grand opening to get a little bit closer to some family history.
"These things have been a part of our history and we've never really had a place where we can showcase this stuff," she said. "So now, because of the centre, we're able to showcase it. I'm able to show my son, like, this is a part of the history in which he came from."
Joe hopes Mi'kmaw culture will be shared and expanded within the walls, as he aims to use the space for adult language lessons. That's part of his mission to reintroduce the Indigenous language into the community.
"It continues to be a place of learning, and to me, that's the best part of it."
