The Whiskey Jack Nordic Ski Club is gearing up for its role in the 2020 BC Winter Games.
Club president Eliza Stanford gave some early details Thursday of a plan to build a new day lodge next year in the lead up the Games.
"If you build it, they will come has been our ethos," Stanford told a lunch meeting of the Fort St. John Rotary Club.
The 1,500-square foot open concept lodge will be built near the entrance to the ski trails at Beatton Provincial Park, which will be the site of the Game's Nordic skiing events.
The club needs the lodge to administer those race events, but beyond that, the club has been working to build a lodge as a social hub and resting place for skiers, and have programming space as the club continues to grow. The lodge would be lit by a skylight and heated by a wood stove, while an accessible outhouse would be built nearby.
"We need more space because we have more people now," Stanford said, noting the club recently built a shop at the trails last fall.
"It's going to be really simple to maintain because we want it to be as easy as possible for future generations to look after."
The lodge will cost an estimated $400,000 to build, and work begins this month to turn rough sketches into architectural and engineering designs, Stanford said. From there, the club will be able to refine the cost of the project and start applying for grants to fund construction later this spring.
If all goes to plan, the club would start building the lodge in spring 2019 with a public opening set for later that winter.
Fort St. John was announced as the host city for the 2020 Games last March, with up to 1,500 athletes between the ages of nine and 19 expected to be here to compete, along with around 600 coaches, managers, and officials.
The Games will include archery, badminton, curling, diving, gymnastics, downhill and cross-country skiing, snowboarding, speed skating, karate, judo, figure skating, and more.
Events will take place in school gymnasiums, including North Peace Secondary School and the Ma Murray Community School, the Pomeroy Sport Centre, the North Peace Arena, the North Peace Leisure Pool, and Big Bam Ski Hill.
Fort St. John last hosted the BC Winter Games in 1984.
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