Right now, the Nisqually Indian Tribe’s elders building is cut off from the rest of the community by Yelm Highway. But soon, the tribe’s 178 elders will have a gathering place in the heart of the Nisqually Reservation.
Construction is well under way for a new elders building located next to the tribe’s new health center at 4840 Journey St. S.E. The facility is three times larger than the current one, at more than 22,000 square feet. It’s expected to open by March 2023.
The community celebrated a milestone in the construction of the building on Thursday with a “topping out” ceremony, in which the final beam is placed on the building before a roof is installed. The beam was signed by people who were involved in the planning and construction of the building, including Cleo Frank, the Elders Program manager.
“We’ve seen all these other buildings around the city getting built, and we said, ‘We’ll sit back and be patient and wait our turn,”‘ Frank said. “And our turn has finally come.”
Frank said it was great being a part of Thursday’s event because it helped cement the project in reality. She said the signed beam will stay exposed in the dining hall so people can look up and see where they signed. The tribe did the same ceremony when the final beam was placed for the health center in 2020.
Information Officer Debbie Preston said the project is being funded through a combination of grants and tribal dollars totaling about $15 million.
Frank said the new elders building has been in the works for a few years, and the need for a larger space was exacerbated by the pandemic. Before COVID shut down in-person events, the current elders building served 20 to 30 lunches four times a week. Frank said that during the pandemic, the tribe started delivering lunches to households, which quickly became popular.
The number of deliveries Frank and her team were doing steadily rose to 125 or more in a week. With in-person events making their way back into daily life, the current building just isn’t capable of hosting that many people.
“A lot of elders don’t have a place to go,” Frank said. “They’re socially isolated, and that’s a big downfall in the elderly community.”
The new building will have seating for about 150 people in the dining hall, as well as a craft room and opportunities for classes on sewing, beading, weaving and more. The building also will feature spaces for elders from across communities to take yoga and language classes and more.
There also is a demonstration kitchen where people can learn how to cook healthy meals taught by a nutritionist, and the current building has a vegetable garden that likely will be replicated at the new location.
The building is being outfitted with solar panels and will have seven electric vehicle plug-ins, according to a news release from Preston. The tribe received a $100,000 grant from Puget Sound Energy for the solar panels.
The building doesn’t have a name yet, but Frank said a few ideas have been tossed around for names that are in the Nisqually language. Rooms in the building will be available to be reserved by the public for events when they’re not in use for classes.
