Photo by Photo Submitted
FARO GAINS AN ADDITION – The new Faro Community Services Building is open for business. Photo by JIM MCLACHLAN
New Community Services Building opens in Faro
The new, $12-million Faro Community Services Building officially opened its doors on Sept. 8
The new, $12-million Faro Community Services Building officially opened its doors on Sept. 8 and welcomed Yukoners for a tour of the new space, the territorial government said today.
The 1,229-square-metre facility was designed to meet the Town of Faro’s unique needs, and will house emergency and community services.
The new building is also designed to exceed minimum energy efficiency standards by 25 per cent.
The building includes seven vehicle bays, staff offices, shared meeting rooms, parts and tool storage, a morgue and decontamination areas.
The project was built through an investment of more than $8.8 million by the federal government and nearly a $3-million investment by the Yukon government.
“This new Community Services Building will support the safety and well-being of Yukoners living in Faro and will help create a stronger community,” said Community Services Minister Richard Mostyn.
“Through our collaborative work with our federal partners, we have been able to build this new, energy-efficent facility that will serve the residents of Faro for generations to come.”
Yukon MP Brendan Hanley said he is “so pleased to celebrate the opening of the new energy-efficient Community Services Building here in Faro.
“This facility is a step forward in developing essential infrastructure in the community and will improve public safety.
“The Government of Canada will continue to support projects like the one announced today, because we know that when our small communities thrive — we all benefit,” Hanley said.
Faro Mayor Jack Bowers said the town “has benefitted from several much-needed improvements in our water and sewer systems as a result of the joint Canada-Yukon Infrastructure Grant Program.
“Our new Community Services Building is the first new building of its kind in many years in Faro that is not directly tied to our water sewer infrastructure.
“It’s a building we all can be proud of,” Bowers added.
“Our fire department, EMS volunteers and our public works crew are all anxiously awaiting the occupancy of our new building.”
Most importantly to himself, the mayor said, “is that the new Public Services Building symbolizes that Faro is again on the rise.
“We see our community growing, and this new building is evidence of that.
“Our community wishes to express our thanks to our federal and territorial governments for their continued support for municipal infrastructure funding.”
Ottawa invested $8,866,344 in the project through the Small Communities Fund of the Investing in Canada plan.
The Yukon government provided $2,955,448 toward the new building.
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Comments (10)
Up 0 Down 1
YukonMax on Sep 25, 2022 at 5:53 am
@Sylvia Burkhard
When was the last time you've been to Faro?
Up 5 Down 1
Josey Wales on Sep 24, 2022 at 6:52 am
Hmmm...understandable that there are only so many ways to construct and adorn essentially a garage.
That said it looks like anything the military would build in the late 1960s or early 70s.
The one we have here in east van (formerly known as Whitehorse) 2.0 is an absolute palace complete with the best fixtures and doors our money could buy for our civic royalty and their obedient administration.
Faro needs a junkie hub, like a state sanctioned place to get like totally wasted, maybe a five story homeless shelter so we can enrich the communities to have like a junkie exchange program?
Faro needs some fast food up there too, the human traffickers have a hot market for “staff” and “job displacement...I mean placement”
Faro...election time soon, need a few new rinks? A couple new swank generator packs to offset the grid reliability?
Put in your wish list soon, and enjoy the shelter for your equipment...winter here can suck.
Up 9 Down 1
Sylvia Burkhard on Sep 23, 2022 at 10:26 pm
I’ve never understood why Faro became a town once the mine closed. From what I recall the townsite was given to some staunch NDPer’s, and sat pretty empty for years. It’s a big cash cow, should have been sold off like Clinton Creek and Elsa. New RCMP station and Public Works Building, maybe a new school and arena, why? It’s a serious question, maybe someone could enlighten listeners why a mining town got civic status, and now needs $12 million buildings.
Up 7 Down 7
Politoco on Sep 23, 2022 at 4:07 pm
@ Groucho d'North Keno had a population of 20 in 2016. Faro had a population of 348 in 2016 and 440 in 2021. It's a growing community. Keno doesn't even make a list of Yukon communities in Wikipedia! If the emergency service didn't have the proper training and equipment don't you think the town would be letting everyone in the Yukon know. Love people asking obvious questions but never bothering to look it up for themselves. You related to Laking?
Up 8 Down 5
Groucho d'North on Sep 23, 2022 at 11:09 am
472 souls live in Faro according to YG stats report of May 2022. From the level of self-congratulatory comments from both Mostyn and Hanely, they appear to believe this investment makes sense.
Sure make it about emergency preparedness if that helps to sell it to the tax payers, but also inform how many volunteer fire fighters, ambulance drivers and similar emergency personel reside in the community. Do they have the required equipment and training to do their jobs safely and effectively? I am thinking about the situation in Keno as I write this and the obvious inconsistencies between the two communities.
Up 20 Down 9
Anie on Sep 21, 2022 at 3:06 pm
A village that has no reason to exist - but it does have a seat in the legislature for sale.
Up 16 Down 14
Yukoner on Sep 21, 2022 at 12:59 pm
Is that like 1 million per resident? Time of some of these towns to disappear; the cost to sustain them is crazy.
Up 24 Down 3
North_of_60 on Sep 21, 2022 at 12:33 am
@Snowball, There is a surplus of housing in Faro, but for some reason the Yukon homeless don't want to live there.
Up 26 Down 5
Sad :( on Sep 20, 2022 at 4:02 pm
I'm sad that there isn't a photo of the new building .
Up 16 Down 31
Snowball on Sep 20, 2022 at 3:01 pm
The 12 Million could've been put to the rental problems. How many are homeless now in the good ol' Yukon? We have Vancouver rent prices in Whitehorse.