DAWSON CITY – The Village Off King is slowly filling up, though not quite as quickly as had been expected.
The village is the Klondike Visitors Association’s (KVA’s) temporary solution to the lack of housing for summer workers in Dawson.
The site was originally planned to provide wall tent-style accommodation for 20 workers, and is booked in advance by their employers.
Located off Fourth Avenue between King and York streets, the site was only large enough for 10 units. Zoning regulations dictated that there had to be a certain amount of space between each tent.
The lots also had to hold washroom/shower facilities, a communal kitchen and a small parking lot.
The tents are wood framed about halfway up each side, then finished with canvas tent material. An extra layer of tarp is stretched over the top to keep out the rain, which has been a regular feature of the weather this month.
Each unit has a double-sized bed frame and mattress, and has individual access to power. That allows for lights and a fan (provided) as well as the potential for a small space heater should the tenant choose to provide one for damp or chilly days.
It’s 15-amp service in each tent, so tripping a breaker in one will not affect the others.
Ricky Mawunganidze, the KVA’s executive director, said in mid-June some of the businesses that had planned to use the site ended up finding alternate places for their staff to live.
As well, the KVA’s Diamond Tooth Gerties operation hired fewer new staff members than had been anticipated, so the village started out with only four tenants.
“So we’re putting it back out, another call-out to employers who might need the service,” he said. By Canada Day, there were another three tents being used.
The site will be open until the end of September, but it’s anticipated that numbers will decline by the middle of the month as it gets darker and cooler at night.
Mawunganidze said it’s good that some employers have invested in more permanent solutions as the village option will only last until the end of the 2025 season.
“There is still an acute labour shortage, with lots of ‘help wanted’ signs and posts at Klondike Outreach,” he said.
