Skip to content

New Pleasant Valley Lodge nears completion

The new Pleasant Valley Lodge seniors home is on track to open at the end of this month with the first residents moving in before Christmas, as construction officially ended Monday.
Construction on Pleasant Valley Lodge concludes Monday, at a total cost of $13.5 million.
Construction on Pleasant Valley Lodge concludes Monday, at a total cost of $13.5 million.

The new Pleasant Valley Lodge seniors home is on track to open at the end of this month with the first residents moving in before Christmas, as construction officially ended Monday.

The new facility boasts 52 single and four couples rooms, each with plenty of storage and complete with small fridges, mobility space for wheelchair users and fully adapted bathrooms with step-in tubs, including built-in seats to reduce the risk of potentially dangerous falls.

At a total cost of approximately $13.5 million, the new lodge is set to officially open at the end of November, and incoming residents can enjoy a large, airy rec room, 54-inch flatscreen TVs, a library doubling as a chapel for services, and an outdoor deck ideal for summer evenings.

“The design is the same as the existing homes in Boyle and Lac La Biche, but the colour scheme is different,” said Lionel Cherniwchan, Athabasca’s municipal representative on the Greater North Foundation that owns all three properties.

The scheme in Athabasca is much more earthy compared to LacAlta Lodge in Lac La Biche and Boyle’s Wildrose Villa, with beige and brown colouring on the floors and walls throughout the building.

All three lodge buildings are split into two wings and two stories centered around large rec rooms and kitchen areas.

The shovels hit the dirt at the seniors home 14 months ago, and currently Keller Construction, an Edmonton-based company, is doing the building work.

“We’ve had some delays, which is expected for this construction,” said site manager Gary Gaudreault.

Nonetheless, the project is almost on schedule and according to Cherniwchan, changes to the building codes halfway through construction – that required windows to be installed overlooking the rec room with sprinkler units placed on both sides – were “a pain in the rear.”

“We’re just about on budget,” said Cherniwchan.

Both Gaudreault and Cherniwchan said local labour was used during construction, while all materials and equipment were obtained around town, including concrete, trucks and lumber.

“I think we’re being responsible to the local economy,” said Cherniwchan.

push icon
Be the first to read breaking stories. Enable push notifications on your device. Disable anytime.
No thanks