Groundbreaking announces much-needed tribal building

SUQUAMISH — In an effort to consolidate its employees and information, the Suquamish Tribe is making space for a new building that will centralize all of its departments.

Having celebrated the groundbreaking earlier this month, the new 20,000-square-foot building will house the fisheries, human and government services which remain at the old tribal administrative building on Sandy Hook Road.

Suquamish Tribe Executive Director Wayne George has been one of the catalysts behind the project, pushing for it to be completed in the next six months or so to strengthen Suquamish. With the departments splintered in two different groups, he said it has been somewhat difficult to communicate and for residents to locate information.

“I think it’s more centrally located in the town of Suquamish,” George said. “Plus I think we all work together better when we have access to the employees. Well, yeah, it is kind of frustrating sometimes with the communications. Sometimes we don’t have time to run down there. It’s a lot easier to walk down a hallway to see fisheries.”

The new structure will be located to the south of the existing administrative buildings, which the tribe moved into in spring 2006. Current work on the two-story addition includes pouring the footings and foundations, and more visual developments are expected to occur in the next few months. No decision has been made yet as to what will happen to the Sandy Hook Road complex, George said, but the gymnasium and buildings will be maintained. The Suquamish Tribal Council will have the final say on what the tribe does with the property.

“The (Suquamish Foundation’s) role is to do some public relations, we’re not paying for that building, it’s a government building,” said Suquamish Foundation Director Michael Felts. “It’s a service building, it’s going to house human services, fisheries and will house some pretty important government services. What we’re trying to do is centralize all of the services.”

The Suquamish Tribe has been planning to add a new museum and arts center, Traditional Community House and a community dock before summer 2009.

The tribe will host and be the final destination of the Tribal Journeys that year, and has been planning additions and improvements for several months. Though the new administrative building is not counted among these, it will be one more successful project the tribe can show visitors and other tribes. It can also be expanded should the need arise.

“Yes, yes, there is planned growth and storage,” George said. The building will start out roomy with plenty of additional space and facilities for departments and new programs to take root.

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