Also, more than 30 companies including national manufacturers and local suppliers to the regional building trade are supporting the project with contributions of new products, labour, special expertise and examples of new technology in home construction. We're pleased to be involved in a project where the next generation of homebuilders get an opportunity to put into practice what they learn in the classroom. This is a working practicum for foundation and framing skills, from start to finish, and would be hard for students to achieve without this kind of partnership. Ballard supervises the students and provides hands-on training and detailed theoretical instruction. Local members of the Home Builders Association then complete the house by doing the finished carpentry, detailing, and cabinetry along with local subtrades who do the plumbing and electrical installation.
Local suppliers complete the installation of appliances, carpets and other fixtures.
The 1998 home has many luxury features like custom oak cabinetry, cultured marble bath fixtures, elegant foyer, vaulted ceiling and other specialty items. When taken as a whole, this network adds up to a valuable cooperative training partnership for the program, the graduating carpentry students, today and in the future, who will be looking for employment in the homebuilding industry. When the home is licenced by the BC Gaming Commission, it will be decorated and furnished by a local interior designer and other suppliers in readiness for viewing by the public for the 1998 Lotto for Learning conducted by the Malaspina Foundation. Completion time is expected to be in the early summer. More than 3,500 people visited last year's home which acted like a showcase for the suppliers and trades who contributed to the project.