By Josh Margolis
ROCKY BOY, Mont. (NMB) – A groundbreaking ceremony was held just east of the Rocky Boy Health Center on Monday morning to celebrate the start of an estimated $7 million construction project for 31 senior homes.
Tribal Chairman Harlan Gopher Baker says this will help alleviate the current housing shortage on the Reservation.
“Of course, with the housing shortage here on the Tribe, this is a pretty dire need for us. This is a good start here. Starting with our seniors, getting them some good, affordable new homes. A lot of our older homes are kind of so old where they are pretty much falling apart…We always say we take care of our elders, so that’s what we’re doing. Today’s a good day. We’re breaking ground and going to start construction on, I think we’re beginning with seven new homes. So the crew is going to break ground and I think we’re going to get to work today. So it’s a big thing for the tribe, a good thing.”
The plan is for seven or eight homes to be built each year, with 31 in total.
Project Manager Justin Fourcolors says each home will have two bedrooms and two bathrooms.
“This project is two years in the making. We put in for funding, we received funding last year. Due to COVID though, we had to delay for one year. It’s pretty exciting to get started on this project.”
Funds for this project were provided through a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
“We had the need, of course, for some smaller units because of the over crowdedness in Rocky Boy. This is truly going to be a blessing, especially for the elders,” said Project Superintendent Merle Belcourt. “Many times, the elders have been used as a way to get grants, and somehow it falls by the wayside. It starts with an application process and our past record. Can we handle a project like this and complete it. We’re excited. This is the biggest project we’ve had in over 20 years. And we fully intend to complete each and every one of the 31 homes.”
Belcourt says he doesn’t believe the rising cost of materials will mean the project will have to be cut back in any way, but it remains a possibility.
“The bidders on this project were fully aware of the increases in prices They sharpened their pencils. A lot of them have a good idea of what they are going to have to go and look forward to the rest of the year. We’re all hoping that (since) these prices went up fast, they’ll go down fast. That would really help us tremendously.”
If everything lines up, the goal is for the first set of homes to be completed before the first snowfall of the fall. The project also includes building roads and streets as well as water and sewer work.
“We’ll have the roads and streets. It’ll be a fully developed project,” Belcourt says. “They are planning on looking at some solar energy in the future. That’ll really help out. These houses will be oriented in a way to receive the sun. And the other thing, it’s close to the Indian Health Service. That helps. (The houses) are going to be nice, cozy and comfortable.”
Chippewa Cree Construction is doing the dirt work on this project. The contract for construction of the homes is still being finalized.
This is the second groudbreaking held on the Reservation in the last several days. Last Friday, a groundbreaking was held on a project to build a mobile storage unit and Administration offices for the Rocky Boy Health Center.
