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A developer planning to rebuild the historic Kamloops sanitorium site into a massive subdivision just cleared another hurdle in its efforts.

A First Nations group urged the province to enforce an environmental assessment before construction on the potentially-massive subdivision starts, citing concerns for the natural ecosystem and a suspicion that Indian residential school students might be buried there.

Last month, the province found some of Stk'emlupsemc Te Secwepemc Nation's (SSN) objections would be better dealt with in other ways, rather than through the environmental assessment office. It's largely because the 190-hectare property is privately owned within City of Kamloops boundaries.

Claims that the former tuberculosis hospital once hosted children from the Kamloops Indian Residential School were contested by the owner, Ignition Developments, which responded to say the Tranquille institution had a history of refusing First Nations patients. Previous work in the area have uncovered human remains, but the age of those burials aren't known.

READ MORE: First Nations blamed for delays on Tranquille redevelopment in Kamloops

The area was used for ranching before the province built a tuberculosis hospital in the early 1900s, later converting it to a psychiatric facility with a surrounding townsite. Historically, Secwepemc people hosted a village near the mouth of the nearby Tranquille River. Archaeological assessments have found evidence of pit houses near the Thompson riverbanks and it's expected the potential construction in the future would uncover more, according to the province's report.

Ignition has planned to build a subdivision on the property for years, which would host around 1,500 homes, shops, an urban farm and vineyards. The company pointed blame at the province last year for repeated delays to the project and later confirmed First Nations efforts to force an environmental assessment was at least one of them.

It's not clear when the company is now projecting construction to start or when the City will be asked to consider issuing permits.

SSN, a governance organization representing Tk'emlups te Secwepemc and Skeetchestn Indian Band, told the province it had "repeatedly" expressed concern with the Tranquille project since 2021. Ignition's plans for the site would affect the area traditionally known as "Pellqweqwile" and its "irreplaceable and traditional values."

In its late-June decision, the province said the "potential disturbance of unmarked graves" at the Tranquille site would have a serious impact on SSN's Title rights, but it had "sparse" evidence of unmarked Secwepemc or Indigenous graves. Though two burials have been found on the property, it's not clear whether they are connected to the sanitorium or tuberculosis hospital.

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Site surveys from the 1970s noted previously uncovered human remains, according to the report. In one case, excavation with a backhoe uncovered the skeletal remains of a man. In another, the buried remains of a man, woman and child was found while during construction.

Ignition president Dan Fritz previously claimed SSN has "been able to paralyze and manipulate" government decisions over the property for years.

If construction goes ahead, the company will still be bound by provincial archaeological regulations.

It's not clear if SSN will challenge the company's efforts further.

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