River Landing Tourism & Recreation

The River Landing is the first site a visitor will see when crossing the bridge on Highway 10 going north. As such, the River Landing’s public green space provides a welcome to Opaskwayak and acts as a gateway to the community.

This River Landing will include a new splash park, play area, amphitheatre and festival space facing the river.

With plans for new arenas in the multiplex further north in the Community Hub, the existing Gordon Lathlin Memorial Centre building near the river can be re-purposed as an indoor field house (for year-round soccer or other sports) or a community hall. In summer, the centre can be lined with outdoor market spaces where local makers and crafters could sell their wares on market days.

When the existing public works yard near the arena is relocated next to the cemetery on Kiche Maskenow Road the previous public works area near the river can be transformed into a new camping and RV site. This location just off the highway but within walking distance of the pow-wow grounds and new splash park will appeal to tourists and Opaskwayak members returning to the reserve for festivals and events.

Commercial & Entertainment

The Community Hub has always been Opaskwayak’s main business centre, with the region’s only true shopping mall, the Otineka Mall.

Over the next 20 years, this area will grow and evolve as a regional business centre. It will include a new office building connected to Otineka Mall and a new small-business strip mall, with space for both PBDC ventures and private businesses. A new gas station, with 12 to 16 pumps will replace the existing Shell Station. An expanded and reconfigured drive-through aisle for Tim Hortons that will solve congestion problems with the current mall parking lot. Space is also set aside for a possible expansion to the Kikiwak Inn, nestled behind the existing roadside picnic shelter which can be developed into an impactful highway-facing sculpture park showcasing local artist talent.

A new multiplex will replace the old Gordon Lathlin Memorial Centre and vastly expand the recreational facilities in the community. The multiplex, when built, could include an aquatic centre, a community space, a gym, indoor walking track, community care spaces, and two arenas. One of the arenas may be a spectator arena for the hockey team and one could serve as a practice arena. The rendering shows a view of how the multiplex spectator arena would look during a hockey game.

Education, Health & Well-Being

In the next 20 years, Opaskwayak will continue to focus on the education, health & well-being of community members.

In the near future, a new Cree Immersion School will be added on the west side of the existing Joe A. Ross elementary school. The Oscar Lathlin Collegiate will see a new technical / vocational school and a new Post-Secondary Internship and Research Centre added to the site. The proposed plan will close a portion of Chemem Maskanow Road between the two schools to connect them and create an educational hub.

The area north of the collegiate is set for a major transformation. A new Restorative Justice Centre, Elder and Youth Centre, and CFS building are proposed on the eastern edge of the site.

West of this, long-term plans would see the existing Aseneskak Casino relocated to make room for a new All Nations Health & Healing Centre. This health centre would serve the entire region and be a partnership between Opaskwayak, the Town of The Pas, and other parties based on successful models that are now being implemented across the country.

A new 60-bed Elders Personal Care Home is planned between the centre and the proposed multiplex to the west (with the ability to grow to 100 beds or more aging-in-place units). The new Elders Personal Care Home would be nestled amongst the trees just south of a planned retention lake that would be a place to swim in summer and skate in winter, encouraging active living and interesting destinations to enjoy.

Highway Commercial & Amisk Subdivision

In the next 20 years, a proposed new casino, conference centre and hotel will anchor development for a new highway commercial area. This development would significantly expand the footprint of the existing casino area and make it a major regional draw. The commercial area would also provide space for other larger-scale commercial developments (less suitable to the main Community Hub area due to land requirements) that could include a car dealership, big box hardware store and garden centre, a mechanic shop and a car wash.

A new road is proposed off of Highway 10 at this location that would serve as the access point to a highway commercial area and the Amisk 2 subdivision, which is already under development.

The Amisk 2 residential subdivision will be located between the commercial area and Kiche Maskanow. It will be separated from the highway commercial area by a forested buffer, but still accessible by walking paths. Amisk 2 will provide Opaskwayak with more than 500 new single-detached houses and nearly 460 units of multi-family housing (which may include apartments (rental, condominiums, or co-op housing), row housing or side-by-side duplexes.

The public works yard will be relocated to the west of Amisk 2 off Kiche Maskanow, around the existing fire hall. Further to the northwest, the existing cemetery (which is nearing capacity) may be expanded and beautified with a small pond, which would help to control stormwater.