Osage Nation breaks ground on new Fairfax Wellness Center

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Photo Caption: Members of Osage Nation Congress, Osage Nation Assistant Principal Chief Raymond Red Corn and members of the TriArch and Builder’s Unlimited Inc. take part in turning over the dirt at the Fairfax Wellness Center Groundbreaking ceremony on May 23. CHALENE TOEHAY-TARTSAH/Osage News

FAIRFAX, Okla. – Construction is underway on a new Osage Nation Wellness Center here on the north side of town and the facility will open next year.

ON officials and area constituents celebrated the planned 4,600 square-foot Wellness Center project with a groundbreaking ceremony on May 23. The Wellness Center will be built at 255 N. 1st St. next to the ON Language Center.

“This facility will be available to the public for exercise and we are going to emphasize cross-training as much as lifting weights,” Principal Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear said in a statement. “The facility will also have health counseling rooms for information and guidance to confront health problems people may have, including diabetes, heart disease, and other health-related issues.”

TriArch Architects is designing the center and Builders Unlimited, Inc. is the construction company, according to a news release. The cost of the project is projected to be $1,050,000. Funding was secured by an $800,000 grant awarded to the Osage Nation by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Indian Community Development Block Grant Program.

Standing Bear could not attend the event, but Assistant Principal Chief Raymond Red Corn delivered congratulatory remarks on behalf of the Executive Branch. Red Corn thanked the Nation’s grant writers for their work on applying for the HUD grant and the ON Congress for approving the $250,000 matching appropriation in 2016 with tribal funding.

Red Corn said the new Fairfax Wellness Center will replace the current facility on Elm Street that has been described as “inadequate, very small, very crowded” and is difficult for use by people with limited mobility “and we hope to address all those issues with this facility.”

Congressional Speaker Angela Pratt said the project is the result of several entities working together and added “I’m really excited for the Fairfax and Grayhorse communities,” which is receiving the upgraded facility after the Nation celebrated the recent completion of a new Hominy Wellness Center.

ON Fitness Center Director Hank Powell said his staff is ready to serve the area with the new facility. “Our staff is ready to hit the ground running and to provide some of the things we haven’t been able to provide in the past. The center is going to give us new life, hopefully bring more people to the center and participate in everything we have going,” he said.

In a statement, Osage Casinos CEO Byron Bighorse said: “It’s projects like these that are exactly why Osage Casinos exist. Our primary goal is to give back to the Nation to better the lives of our tribal members, and we believe the Fairfax Wellness Center is a perfect example of that work in action.”

For more information on ON Fitness Center locations and hours, visit the Nation’s website at: www.osagenation-nsn.gov/what-we-do/fitness-center


By

Benny Polacca


Original Publish Date: 2018-06-06 00:00:00

Author

  • Benny Polacca

    Title: Senior Reporter

    Email: bpolacca@osagenation-nsn.gov

    Instagram: @bpolacca

    Topic Expertise: Government, Tribal Government, Community

    Languages spoken: English, basic knowledge of Spanish and French

    Benny Polacca (Hopi/ Havasupai/ Pima/ Tohono O’odham) started working at the Osage News in 2009 as a reporter in Pawhuska, Okla., where he’s covered various stories and events that impact the Osage Nation and Osage people. Those newspaper contributions cover a broad spectrum of topics and issues from tribal government matters to features. As a result, Polacca has gained an immeasurable amount of experience in covering Native American affairs, government issues and features so the Osage readership can be better informed about the tribal current affairs the newspaper covers.

    Polacca is part of the Osage News team that was awarded the Native American Journalists Association's Elias Boudinet Free Press Award in 2014 and has won numerous NAJA media awards, as well as awards from the Oklahoma Press Association and SPJ Oklahoma Pro Chapter, for storytelling coverage and photography.

    Polacca earned his bachelor’s degree from Arizona State University and also participated in the former American Indian Journalism Institute at the University of South Dakota where he was introduced to the basics of journalism and worked with seasoned journalists there and later at The Forum daily newspaper covering the Fargo, N.D. area where he worked as the weeknight reporter.

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Avatar photo

Title: Senior Reporter

Email: bpolacca@osagenation-nsn.gov

Instagram: @bpolacca

Topic Expertise: Government, Tribal Government, Community

Languages spoken: English, basic knowledge of Spanish and French

Benny Polacca (Hopi/ Havasupai/ Pima/ Tohono O’odham) started working at the Osage News in 2009 as a reporter in Pawhuska, Okla., where he’s covered various stories and events that impact the Osage Nation and Osage people. Those newspaper contributions cover a broad spectrum of topics and issues from tribal government matters to features. As a result, Polacca has gained an immeasurable amount of experience in covering Native American affairs, government issues and features so the Osage readership can be better informed about the tribal current affairs the newspaper covers.

Polacca is part of the Osage News team that was awarded the Native American Journalists Association's Elias Boudinet Free Press Award in 2014 and has won numerous NAJA media awards, as well as awards from the Oklahoma Press Association and SPJ Oklahoma Pro Chapter, for storytelling coverage and photography.

Polacca earned his bachelor’s degree from Arizona State University and also participated in the former American Indian Journalism Institute at the University of South Dakota where he was introduced to the basics of journalism and worked with seasoned journalists there and later at The Forum daily newspaper covering the Fargo, N.D. area where he worked as the weeknight reporter.