It wasn't until later we learned, through court documents, that a dispute had arisen over a $5-million donation the Oilers had conditionally promised to Boyle Street’s new venue if the agency’s other fundraising fell short

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When a journey is challenging, it can often lead to a greater sense of accomplishment when the path is completed.

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At the same time, it can also stir feelings of frustration of overspent time and energy, that the process needn’t have been so difficult.

Many of the staff and partners of Boyle Street Community Services undoubtedly felt some of each this week as the agency celebrated the opening of its bright, spacious new headquarters in central Edmonton. Like the sweetgrass smudge that marked the occasion, there was something bittersweet lingering in the air that was akin to both joy and relief.

Back in 2022, when the project was announced at a lively news conference in Ford Hall, the mood was decidedly more jubilant and confident, unaware of the disputes, delays and denigration to come.

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Boyle Street seemed well ahead on fundraising, buoyed by a $10 million donation from the Edmonton Oilers Community Foundation, while other notable area businesses like The Brick had also signed on.

The chosen site, in a former paintball facility at 101 Street and 107A Avenue, seemed well selected for its proximity to other services for the homeless, and because it could be redeveloped with the existing concrete frame (thereby saving costs).

And the future venue had been given a proud name by Indigenous elders — King Thunderbird Centre, or okimaw peyesew kamik in Cree.

There was widespread optimism that the agency could be in its new home within a couple of years, forever leaving behind the dilapidated former banana-ripening warehouse on 105 Avenue (just north of Rogers Place) it was then using as its main hub.

Then things started going sideways.

Boyle Street’s departure from the 105 Avenue location turned out to be much faster than anyone expected or wanted,