Business will soon be booming at Waterhen Lake First Nation. Recently, an official sod-turning ceremony took place in Waterhen for a brand new general store. The new building, which will be located in a more central part of the community, will replace the existing store which WLFN officials say has surpassed its lifespan.
“We took out a loan with the First Nations Finance Authority (FNFA) to build a new store,” explained WLFN chief Blaine Fiddler. “Our current store is not in very good shape. It’s an old building we’ve been using for the past 40 or 50 years and it’s well past its time. We spent a lot of money over the years trying to keep it serviceable.” The sod-turning ceremony took place last Tuesday (June 2). “The new store will be located more centrally in our community, behind our subdivision,” Fiddler continued. “It will be close to a lot of homes. Our current store is near the entrance to our First Nation, and half of it sits on parkland and half on First Nations land We pay a lease to the park, so this new building will be fully on-reserve.”
In addition to the store itself, the new building will also house the local post office and a commercial kitchen for lease. “The store itself will be more so like a grocery store,” Fiddler added. “A lot of our members are unable to travel into town for their groceries, so this will provide an essential service in terms of groceries and fresh produce. We’ve been working on this for about six years.” Originally, WLFN attempted to pursue the land designation route in an effort to commercialize the land, but Fiddler said the community was not ready for that at the time. “They still had mistrust with the government and a lot of our elders felt, if we ever defaulted on our loan, the bank would come in and take the land,” he said. “So, we decided instead of going through the whole land designation process to just open the store ourselves.”
Work on the new store is expected to begin this month with a grand opening taking place about a year from now. Fiddler said, when the time comes for the new store to open, the current management and staff will likely carry on at the new location. “For us this represents growth and opportunity,” Fiddler concluded. “It’s been a shared vision for the future for a long time. We’re also getting a new school, so all of this new infrastructure has really been helping community morale. This is just the beginning of many more ventures to come. We plan to continue with future development, and I would like to thank everyone who has been involved – chief and council, our economic development corporation, and our membership for voicing their concerns about the need for a new store.”