The centre plans to more than double its floor space in order to display more than 100 artifacts from the ships that were part of the doomed 1845 Franklin Expedition.

In adding 4,800 square feet to its current 3,300-square-foot location, it wants to also create room to present community programming.

The Franklin Expedition began in 1845 when explorer Sir John Franklin and his crew set sail from England with two ships, HMS Erebus and HMS Terror. They hoped to cross the last unnavigated sections of the Northwest Passage across the Arctic.

For the next 169 years the ships were believed lost, despite several searches, until an expedition led by Parks Canada and aided by local Inuit discovered the Erebus in 2014 and the Terror in 2016 near Gjoa Haven.

Campbell Cameron, as consultant with Nattilik, said Northern Industrial Construction and the Taylor Architecture Group were awarded the contract following a second request for proposals issued in August.

He said they were selected because they have experience “working in the North, designing in the North and building in the North.”

Project stakeholders:

• Nattilik Heritage Society
• Hamlet Council of Gjoa Haven,
• Kitikmeot Inuit Association
• Parks Canada,
• Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency
• Government of Nunavut
• Canadian Conservative Institute
• Inuit Heritage Trust,
• Four Peaks Consulting Corp