Former Quality Inn Hotel in Prince Albert re-opens under First Nations ownership
After being closed for almost two years, the former Quality Inn Hotel in downtown Prince Albert has re-opened under First Nations ownership.
The facility has been purchased by the Timanaska Development Corporation and the Saskatchewan River Business Corporation, which includes the Cumberland House Cree Nation as a partner.
In addition to standard hotel rooms, plans are for the facility to offer student housing and a 24-hour daycare.
The hotel is located in close proximity to the new University of Saskatchewan campus in Prince Albert.
CHCN Chief Rene Chaboyer said even though we are in the midst of an economy slowed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the shuttered hotel presented an investment opportunity the partners didn’t feel they could pass up.
“We kind of saw a diamond in the rough here,” Cumberland House Cree Nation Chief Rene Chaboyer told reporters following the ribbon cutting.
The main focus of the building will be affordable student housing and medical accommodation, although some plans for the property have been delayed because of the pandemic, Chaboyer explained.
An on-site 24-hour daycare, with up to potentially 94 spaces, is also in the works.
Chaboyer sees Cumberland Crossing Inn as “a pillar of success” for his Nation and the first of several new business ventures.
“There’s good things in the works,” he said. “It’s truly a new beginning.”
PRINCE ALBERT A shuttered hotel in downtown Prince Albert has re-opened as affordable housing for students and people travelling for medical care. The Cumberland Crossing Inn is owned by a Cumberland House Cree Nation company, Saskatchewan River Business Corporation, and Timanaska Development Corporation. Last year, city council unanimously approved their $900,000 bid to purchase the former Quality Inn. The building will also house a restaurant, a 24-hour daycare and operate medical transportation. Chief Rene Chaboyer said the project will provide economic stability for Cumberland House Cree Nation. “We’re trying to push the envelope and be a trend-setting First Nation that can model (for) other nations,” he said. ”Do things that other nations didn’t think that they could ever do. There’s good things in the works. It’s truly a new beginning.”
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Meanwhile, Timanaska Development Corporation, which has offices in Prince Albert, also had an outbreak.
Five office workers were quarantined until Dec.18, according to Orrin Greyeyes, the president and CEO.
“Everyone is working from home,” he told
paNOW.” We’ve basically shut it down for the rest of the year. We have a fairly large amount of employees working across the province but only a few people were affected in our office.”
Greyeyes said everyone affected is in good health.
He said Timanaska Development Corporation has over a dozen companies under its umbrella.
One of them Northern Medical Supplies Corp. supplies personal protective equipment like masks and protective suits.