Visit to Daylu Dena’s civic-building site

This month, Write to Read BC’s design response team visited Daylu Dena, just south of Watson Lake, BC. Visitors included lead architect Scott Kemp and Ryan Arsenault.

For our visit in late 2023, the Daylu Dena civic building was a winter construction site.

The community is constructing a cultural and administrative building that will be completed in 2024. The building will have:

a Service BC office for driver’s licensing and other government business.
administration offices and a council chamber for Daylu Dene community business.
an adjoining room for the judge’s chamber, so the council chamber can be used as a court room.
a large gym.
a commercial kitchen and a coffee shop.
a recording studio, and language room.

An Indigenous library

Of course, the Daylu Dena civic building will also have a Write to Read BC library, the first to be stocked only with Indigenous books.

Write to Read BC volunteers inside the construction site, looking up at the future location of the library.

The library is planned for the top floor, overlooking the foyer. Its glass wall will admit lots of light.

There team will return in 2024 to help plan the library with the community.