Before the Prince George Mosque, the nearest mosque was 600 kilometers away.
REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, OTTAWA – The Prince George Islamic Center, located in the far northwest of British Columbia, Canada, celebrates its 10th anniversary since opening in 2011. It is the first mosque to be built in the northern region of the Province.
According to Lila Mansour, 22, a law student in Toronto, she still remembers the laying of the cornerstone for the mosque. In the past, the city’s Muslim community rented places at the local motel and church to gather and pray. The closest mosque to northerners at the time was in Kelowna, over 600 kilometers south of Prince George.
According to him, local mosques are very important for young Muslims to meet with religious communities. The existence of the mosque also gives them a bond with each other.
“Often when you don’t have a place for you to go to in a place of worship, you don’t always feel a close attachment or you don’t feel recognized,” says Mansour. Radio-Canada, Monday (6/12)
The Muslim community of Prince George purchased 1.2 acre land on 5th Avenue and Foothills Boulevard in the downtown area and applied for rezoning in 2004 to build a mosque. An architect from Vancouver, Sharif Senbel, was commissioned to work on the project.
Senbel said the Prince George Mosque, inspired by the city’s topography, was one of his most successful projects. The mosque’s 7,000 square foot lower roof rises gently depending on the terrain on which the building sits. The intersecting geometry of the mosque’s roof shape is inspired by Prince George’s orthogonal urban network.
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