On August 29, the community of Île-des-Chênes celebrated with Dr. Phillip Hughes at the grand opening of the IDC Professional Centre at 430 Main Street. Attendees enjoyed children’s entertainment, food, tours of the four businesses that make up the centre, and a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
“I’ve looked forward to this for a long time,” Hughes says. “It has been my dream to have a clinic like this in a rural area. My friend Adam came together with me, saw the opportunity, and had a vision for something much bigger and nicer than what I originally thought possible, and he put it together to [become] what it is now.”
The centre is home to Dr. Hughes’s medical clinic as well as the Île-des-Chênes Pharmacy, Île-des-Chênes Physiotherapy, and the Jodoin Law office. Four residential rental units comprise the second story of the 4,500-square-foot building.
“I believe it was time for [a place like this],” says Arthur Adam, project manager and friend of Hughes, of the fast-growing town. “Now people don’t have to drive far anymore. The people of Île-des-Chênes wanted this place, so now you’ve got it. It’s a beautiful building and we’re very proud of it. Phillip is going to enjoy it for a long time.”
Adam regaled those gathered at the ceremony with a brief history on what it took to see this project through to completion. Two years in the making, the pair worked through mounds of red tape and made numerous proposals to the RM council before finding a plan that council could approve of.
“The whole town is the beneficiary [in the end],” says Hughes. “These are good businesses to have in a town. Small towns have trouble getting viable businesses in place. These are four commercially viable businesses that are interdependent. We now have more facilities within the local area that people can use all of the time. This is going to generate a huge amount of tax revenue for the RM of Ritchot.”
