KENORA — Nearly 100 new units of affordable housing are almost ready for seniors in the Kenora district, says Kenora District Services Board chief administrative officer Henry Wall.
An energy-efficient 56-unit housing complex in Kenora will be completed by the end of December, Wall said in an interview Wednesday.
“We’re hoping that this is going to be a great Christmas present for the community … and we can start having seniors move in,” he added.
Construction of the complex on 8th Street S. commenced in late 2022. In addition to independent living units for seniors, it will include dedicated health spaces for a range of specialized services and supports.
Wall said the 40-unit Pinewood Place on Arthur Street in Dryden is even closer to completion.
“We’re working in the substantial completion stage,” he said, adding there’s still “a bit of work” to be done on the building’s exterior.
“So we have the sidewalks, the concrete work happening, and then we’re hoping that paving will happen in the next couple of weeks,” Wall added. “So we should be done in about a month or so.”
Like the Kenora project, the Dryden complex also has room for programming space, Wall said.
The new affordable housing is “critically important” to the region, he said.
“All too often, we’re hearing that we have seniors and elders who are moving out of the community because there’s a lack of housing here," Wall added.
One benefit from the 96 new housing units is the potential for dozens of homes being put on the market as seniors move into new abodes, he said.
That will help ease the tight real estate market in which newcomers to the cities have trouble finding homes, Wall added
The Kenora and Dryden units “will make a life-changing difference for seniors and elders in our communities,” said KDSB chair Fred Mota.
Kenora-Rainy River MPP Greg Rickford, the minister of northern development, said on Facebook that Ontario put $1.7 million in the Pinewood Place project so that Dryden “remains an attractive destination for aging families.”
The seniors housing projects are part of a very productive period for the district services board with respect to living spaces, said Wall.
A complex of 20 affordable housing units on Matheson Street in Kenora was completed last fall and is “going very well, and it’s a demonstration of what happens when people are empowered,” he said.
The board also worked with Ontario Aboriginal Housing Services on a 30-unit supportive housing project near the Kenora Armories, and “people have moved into their new homes there,” he said.
Also, Wall said, “we’ve just opened up nine second-stage housing units” in Kenora.
Second-stage housing is a step between shelters and more permanent housing for women and children escaping abusive relationships.
