UPPER SIOUX COMMUNITY -- A $1 million grant from the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community will help the Upper Sioux Community build a new administrative facility.
The Upper Sioux Community broke ground last month on an estimated $2.3 million community administrative building.
It will consolidate six different facilities that house tribal operations' staff and programs, according to a news release announcing the grant.
The funding assistance from the Mdewakanton Sioux Community will be used along with an Indian Community Development Block Grant from the United States Housing and Urban Development Department for the project that will include a new medical clinic.
The new facility will improve efficiency and end the local tribe's reliance on facilities that are deteriorating and, in some cases, causing health concerns.
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"It is time that we have one central building to house all administrative staff that is energy-saving and cost-effective," wrote Upper Sioux Community Chairman Kevin Jensvold in a letter to the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community Business Council. The grant will help fund construction, equipment and furnishings.
The Upper Sioux Community and the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community have had close social and cultural ties for generations.
In fiscal year 2007, the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community gave the Upper Sioux Community a $1 million grant for land purchase.
In fiscal year 2006 the Shakopee Mdewakanton gave the Upper Sioux Community $1 million for economic and infrastructure development. Of that amount, $500,000 supported extensive repairs to the wastewater treatment plant, startup costs for a police department, health benefits and erosion control. The remaining $500,000 was used for capital improvements to the Prairie's Edge Casino Resort near Granite Falls.
From 1997 through 2005 the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community provided the Upper Sioux Community with more than $4.4 million in assistance.
