(CS4.2) Muskowekwan IRS - A Rejuvenation of a site of Darkness into the Light

The presentation will start with an explanation of the history of Muskowekwan Indian Residential School (MIRS), the last standing IRS building in Saskatchewan. Going through the history of the site, from the initial buildings located on the site, to the 1930-built building, to the closure of the IRS school in 1996, through to today, there will be an explanation of how the school ran, what life was like for those who attended and worked there. Throughout this explanation, the larger history of the IRS will be weaved through for a larger understanding of the context surrounding the current status of the building.
We will go over how the decision was made to keep the building after it’s closure, rather than to demolish it, which was done by a vote of all of the members of Muskowekwan First Nation (MFN).
We will then jump to 2018 when the building is listed on the National Trust’s Top 10 Endangered Buildings List, which caught the attention of Carleton Architecture Professor, Lyette Fortin. She decided to make the trip out to Muskowekwan and see if an alliance could be made between her Conservation Studio class and the people of MFN. In the winter of 2019, 16 students, led by the guiding force of Associate Professor Jim Mountain researched MIRS and everything related to it in order to create 8 designs for the adaptive reuse of the building. They had the opportunity to talk to various members of MFN, and at the end of the semester, one of the students went out to Saskatchewan to show them what the many different possibilities could be for the building that the students had dreamed up.
Along with this student went Stephen Fai and his team from CIMS, who documented the building and site through laser scanning and over the span of 4 years donated their time, effort and professional expertise to create a highly detailed BIM model of MIRS.
Jim Mountain continued to stay involved in the project, helping MFN to gain funding for the building and helped with the successful application to achieve a National Historic Site designation for MIRS. The students have also continued to volunteer their help when they can, with the presenter Danica specifically choosing to do her masters dissertation on the subject so that she and presenter Vanessa could guide a workshop with the survivors to see how the building should be adaptively reused and what would be the best options for the community.
Finally the presentation will end with a showcase of the latest developments concerning the winning bid of the Brooke McIlroy Architects (Indigenous Design Studio) designs and work so far.