INUVIK, N.W.T. - The roof leaks, the wiring is tangled and the Arctic wind blows through leaky old windows.
The walls are scabbed from decades of posters and the 1950s-era linoleum is, well, tired.
This is Inuvik's Aurora Research Institute, Canada's flagship research station in the western Arctic. It's a 45-year-old relic from the days of slide rules and punch cards that's still in use in a world where high-speed Internet is now as much a part of a well-equipped lab as test tubes.
Not for much longer.
Aurora -- and three other research stations across the North -- are set to begin major rebuilds to give Canadian and international scientists a modern platform for modern science.
"It's desperately needed," says director Pippa Seccombe-Hett. "It keeps us relevant to science in the Arctic."
It would be hard to overestimate the importance that the stations play in Arctic science. They offer work space, research libraries and storage for specialized equipment coming up from the south. They rent gear from sleeping bags and tents to small motor boats and survival suits.
They even house researchers who aren't out in the field.
"This facility is critical to us in terms of logistic support, accommodation and scientific interaction," says Steve Blasco, a geologist working at Aurora who's helping to map the ocean floor. "It's a structure, but to us it's a living thing."
Last year 75 research groups with 650 scientists from around the world worked at Aurora. The Churchill Northern Studies Centre in Manitoba hosted 150 researchers.
The Nunavut Research Institute in Iqaluit and the Polar Continental Shelf facility in Resolute are similarly active.
But all are old.
Churchill is 50 years old. The Iqaluit facility is a pair of linked trailers that haven't been renovated in three decades. At Aurora, built in 1964, the labs don't even offer computer connections -- which leads to some interesting improvisation, says Blasco.
"I've seen 30 wires coming out of a wall that wouldn't pass anybody's inspection."
Churchill's lab doesn't even have proper heat.
"It's great for doing snow work, but if you need to do anything warm, it's a problem," says scientific co-ordinator LeeAnn Fishback.
Each of the stations received $11 million from the federal Arctic Research Infrastructure Fund, part of the government's overall economic stimulus package.
Although the new buildings will be roughly the same size as the current structures, better design will allow scientists to do much more in them.
Research in the centres deals with everything from plants and animals to the lifestyles of people who live in the Arctic. Canada's claims to the waters off its Arctic coastlines will be based on research conducted at centres such as Aurora.
While researchers welcome the new buildings, the next step is to make they've got enough money to run and ensure the scientists themselves are properly funded, says Jean-Marie Beaulieu of the Canadian Polar Commission.
"Our next step will be looking for operating money."
The commission is about to release estimates on how much it will cost to run the stations on an ongoing basis. They are owned by a variety of organizations, including provincial governments and educational institutions. Scientists are also looking for a restoration of funding to federal granting agencies, which was cut in the most recent federal budget.
Blasco has worked at Aurora for years and is fond of the old place.
"Without this facility there would be no science for us," he says.
But its time is past and a new building is needed.
"If there were no new facility, I would not be doing research here."
