In a 3-2 vote, council has agreed to authorize funding for the provincial archaeological permitting and construction required for the Hope Station House project.
During Monday night’s (Feb. 23) meeting, council agreed to allow district staff to use funds from the Station House Reserve and, if needed, the Infrastructure Reserve for the work. This decision was reached after senior staff explained that the Archaeological Impact Assessment (AIA) completed in 2025 for the Station House site identified cultural materials. These materials are legally requiring the district to obtain a Heritage Conservation Act Section 12.4 (HCA 12.4) alteration permit before construction may begin.
A total of $168,262 currently remains in the Station House Reserve and $6.4 million in the Infrastructure Reserve. According to Stantec Consulting, the archaeological consulting firm hired by the district, the archaeological work is expected to range from $160,000 to $315,000. This work will also require coordinating with the First Nation communities involved in this project.
Chief Administrative Officer John Fortoloczky informed council that their approval was needed in order for work on the project to be continued until completion. He said their approval would give donors, community partners and residents confidence that construction will happen. It also aligns with the community objectives of preserving heritage resources and supporting tourism by hosting the visitor centre, museum, and AdvantageHOPE offices.
He also explained that voting against this approval would require the district to be responsible for cleanup or demolition of the building and that the location would be unlikely to sell. This is because archaeological permitting would still need to happen in order to develop on that spot.
Mike Olson, director of finance, further informed council that the district regularly budgets for replenishing $500,000 to the Infrastructure Reserve each year. As such, no additional taxation or costs would be added onto residents should funding be required from this reserve.
Councillors Scott Medlock, Bonny Graham, and Heather Stewin voted in favour of completing the project. Medlock said that a lot of time and money had already been put into this project and it would be a shame not to see it through.
“That land becomes, as Mr. Fortoloczky said, sterile,” Medlock said. “And we’ve been operating a visitor centre and no museum for a long time. And the cost to build those buildings is substantially more than anything that we’re looking at here. The alternative solution has far less value to the community and it is nowhere as cool.”
Councillors Pauline Newbigging and Angela Skoglund voted against completing the project. Newbigging said that while she agrees with Medlock about this being an asset for the community she believes the district should not touch the Infrastructure Reserve.
“There’s been so much money put into this already and I’d hate to see us go into the Infrastructure Reserve,” Newbigging said. “I think there’s so much more needed in our district in terms of water, the roads, and just beyond the Station House. I do agree that it would be an absolute positive for our town. However I’m not agreeing with us going into our Infrastructure Reserve.”
Newbigging and Skoglund previously voted against authorizing $73,413.96 from the Station House Reserve to be used to do a more extensive excavation at the site.
Council originally approved up to $100,000 from the Infrastructure Reserve for an archaeological assessment on Feb. 10, 2025. This study was necessary as design plans for the station house project involves digging at the site to build a basement.
However on Aug. 28 a report from Stantec revealed that “deeply buried, potentially intact archaeological sediments were encountered in three of the machine tests.” Due to this discovery, additional costs were expected to do an excavation in order to better understand these findings and report back to the district, Archaeology Branch, and Indigenous groups involved in the project. Stantec proposed that an additional $73,413.96 would be needed to complete the excavation.
Council voted 4-2 in favour of approving this number on Oct. 14, 2025.
The next council meeting is March 9 at 7 p.m.