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He’s particularly excited about the $45-million indigenous peoples experience, which will include an outdoor amphitheatre, teepees, a Métis cabin, trails and a lodge where treaty history will be explained.

Photo by Supplied / -

The site beside Egge’s Pond near the fur trading fort is being created with input from the Confederacy of Treaty Six First Nations and the Métis Nation of Alberta under deals signed in 2015.

“The relationship with the indigenous community is very important. This is the 150th anniversary of Confederation, and our history with the indigenous community has not always been very positive,” Sohi said.

“(The indigenous peoples experience) is very necessary to the reconciliation experience … to heal those wounds and go toward more of a relationship based on respect and harmony.”

Audrey Poitras, president of the Métis Nation of Alberta, said the facility will be a way to tell the stories of Métis and First Nations people who have long lived in the area.

“Without those stories, the park wouldn’t be complete.”

Utility work could start this fall, with construction of the other components likely not beginning until 2018. Officials expect work will be completed in 2020.

The midway is getting bumper cars, a new Ferris wheel and a re-creation of the wooden Green Rattler roller-coaster from the Borden Park amusement park, while the admission area is moving to a new building.

As well, a 250-person banquet hall will be built on empty land beside the hotel.

The city is putting in $72.6 million for much-needed utilities, but the park will bloom with the federal funding in addition to $33.5 million from the province and an $11-million private fundraising goal, Mayor Don Iveson said.

“That’s what’s really going to take this from tuned up for another 50 years to … one of the leading living history museums on the face of the Earth.”

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