Piapot First Nation held a sod turning ceremony today for a new commercial office building in north central Regina. Chief Mark Fox, along with many other dignitaries, used their shovels to turn the dirt for the building at the corner of Angus Street and 6th Avenue. The land is an urban reserve for the Piapot First Nation, and also home to the Cree Land Mini-Mart. The cost of the building will be close to $10 million. Chief Fox says the project will provide jobs for band members, as well as revenue for the First Nation. Westridge Construction will hold a job fair to hopefully hire several Piapot band members to work on the construction. The band is already looking for tenants to sign leases to occupy the building. “Maybe some of the Crowns will be occupants. We’re hoping to get a pharmacy in here. Hopefully some day they’ll be a bank here,” Chief Fox told reporters on Monday. “A lot of the office space, we’re hoping a lot of the First Nations around the City of Regina will enter some urban offices for their businesses.” The two-story business centre should be open by November of next year. Piapot First Nation is also working on several other development projects.
