Cumberland House Cree Nation Chief Rene Chaboyer speaks ahead of the ribbon cutting. (Alison Sandstrom/paNOW Staff)

By Alison Sandstrom

New vision

‘Truly a new beginning:’ Cumberland Crossing Inn opens in downtown P.A.

Mar 15, 2021 | 5:11 PM

Dignitaries from Cumberland House Cree Nation and the City of P.A. gathered downtown Monday to mark the official opening of Cumberland Crossing Inn.

Previously known as the Quality Inn, the downtown landmark’s former owners shut the doors in June of 2019. It was later revealed they owed the city over $800,000 in unpaid taxes and penalties.

Today, less than a year after the City of P.A. took possession of the building, it’s been reborn under new ownership and is now accepting bookings.

Cumberland Crossing Inn is a joint-venture between an economic development arm of Cumberland House Cree Nation—Saskatchewan River Development Corporation—and Timanaska Development Corporation. The latter is an Indigenous-owned company with offices in Prince Albert.

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“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.”

“My end goal is to get my First Nation to be a sovereign government not so much an INAC [Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada] band that relies on the federal government and their policies,” Chaboyer said. “To be successful in that way you need economic development.”

Prince Albert mayor Greg Dionne speaks at the ribbon cutting event. (Alison Sandstrom/paNOW Staff)

Prince Albert mayor Greg Dionne shared Chaboyer’s excitement about the new venture and thanked the chief and his partners for their “vision and forward thinking” in bringing the property back to life.

If the reopening of the hotel is a new beginning for Cumberland House Cree Nation, it’s equally one for the City of P.A.

Dionne called the building’s new ownership and direction “a best-case scenario” for the city.

He noted the establishment will be an important force in ongoing efforts to revitalize Prince Albert’s downtown.

Lawrence Joseph, former FSIN Chief and past P.A. city councillor, emceed the official opening which featured remarks from several local dignitaries. (Alison Sandstrom/paNOW Staff)

Renovations ongoing

Orrin Greyeyes, President and CEO of Timanska Development Corp., explained nearly all 33 rooms on the second floor of the hotel have been renovated and are now open. The remainder on the second level will be finished in a matter of days, he said.

Rooms on the second floor of the building have been renovated and are open for bookings. (Alison Sandstrom/paNOW Staff)

Saskatchewan River Business Corporation paid $900,000 for the former Quality Inn. Greyeyes declined to say how much had been spent on renovations and repairs so far, but said the amount was “significant.”

He estimated a further $750,000 needs to be put into the building “to bring it up to where we want to see it.”

This mural by local artist John Hanikenne is a focal point in the newly-renovated lobby. (Alison Sandstrom/paNOW Staff)

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alison.sandstrom@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @alisandstrom