Snaw-Naw-As Marketplace: Nanoose First Nation’s first major commercial project By Samantha Sommerfield
T
he first shovel broke soil in May of 2018 to start construction of Nanoose First Nation’s first major commercial project, the SnawNaw-As Marketplace. However, even though construction just started, this project has been a vision for many years for the Nanoose First Nation. “We had an official ground-breaking ceremony at the start of the project. There was an impressive turnout from the community; it was quite the eyeopener,” says Drew Fisher of Ecklundson Construction Ltd. “We are dealing with an ownership group who is very 32 Vancouver Island Construction Association 2019
invested in the project and organized. It feels good to see their response as things start coming together.” The team joining Ecklundson in the project has become an effective group consisting of Nanoose Economic Development Corporation, Snaw-NawAs First Nation, Iredale Architecture, Fraser Wood Industries, Fenrick Construction, Osprey Electric, Western Oil Services, Corgan Mechanical, Atlas Truss, Insulpro Insulation, McGregor & Thompson Hardware, Mid Island Glass, Van Berg Painting, AME Consulting Group, McElhanney, Muir Engineering
and AME Consulting Group. “Getting to work with this group has been very rewarding. For Snaw-Naw-As, it has been 25 years of getting things in motion, so to see it happening and be able to play a role is great,” says Fisher. The Snaw-Naw-As Marketplace is located on a main transportation vessel in the community, and is something that will positively represent the community, and will cater to upwards of 30,000 motorists who pass by every day. It will provide motorists a stop that includes shopping, a restaurant, gas fillup, electric vehicle charging, pumpout for RVs and
