Hay River women's shelter demolished to make way for new facility

The Family Support Centre in Hay River, N.W.T., is one step closer to getting a new women's shelter after demolishing the old one on Saturday.

A backhoe flattened the house in a quiet, residential neighbourhood in the morning. Later in the afternoon a small crowdgathered to say goodbye to the old building and enjoybannock and hot chocolate.

• Hay River shelter begins 3-year fundraising campaign

"Our staff and our board of directors, and myself, we are feeling a bit sentimental to say goodbye to the old building but we are extremely excited to have something bigger and better for women and children in the North," says KristineVannebo-Suwala, the centre's executive director.

For years the shelterhas run at capacity for women and children fleeing domestic violence.

Vannebo-Suwalasaid she hopes they will be able to start building a new shelter on the same sitenext spring, with the doors potentially opening in 2020.

"We are almost at the 30 year mark for this facility and so we are looking for a facility with eight bedrooms instead of five. We are hoping to have some group room space and space for programming as well," she said.

Before that can happen, the support centre stillneeds several million dollars.

The demolition was able to move forward after the non-profit group secured $170,000 in federal and territorial government funding this summer.

Meanwhile, the shelter is currently operating in a temporary home provided by the Town of Hay River.