Moose Jaw -
Although a provincial heritage advisory group has recommended the Brunswick Hotel not be stripped of its heritage designation, the hotel's fate is still undecided.
The Saskatchewan Heritage Property Review Board (SHPRB) came back with its recommendations Friday as to what it thinks the city should do with the historic hotel.
Although the report states "the City of Moose Jaw should not proceed with repealing the designation of the Brunswick Hotel," it also gives a number of suggestions as to what the city should do if it decides to move forward with removing the designation.
During the Jan. 29 hearing, a three-person panel from the SHPRB listened to presentations given both for and against the repeal of the Brunswick Hotel's heritage status.
There were 23 people in attendance including Glenda James, who argued against the repeal and the four men who spoke to the committee in favour of the repeal - George Patterson, representing the Little Chicago Development Company, Inc., Dale Harvey, representing the municipal heritage advisory committee (MHAC), Neil Montgomery, also with the Little Chicago group and Bill Heselton, a city police dispatcher.
After the hearing. the SHPRB was given 30 days to go over the information presented and make its recommendation.
On Friday, city received the SHPRB's report.
According to the report, the reason the SHPRB said it is not in favour of the repeal is because of a lack of evidence to support the claim the building is structurally unsound.
It also suggested that when the building was designated in 1997, the city did not properly assess the overall heritage value of the structure in respect to the values outlined in the 1997 designation bylaw.
Because of this, the board recommend, if the city chooses to repeal the designation, it should base its reasons around the fact that the Brunswick has lost its heritage value, opposed to it being structurally unsound.
The SHPRB also recognized the issue surrounding the building's value to the community. The report stated "evidence presented indicates the City of Moose Jaw, city council, MHAC, Little Chicago, and much of the community no longer value (the Brunswick) property."
It suggests if council intends to repeal the designation, it should first conduct a thorough heritage value assessment. The reason for this is to recognize character-defining elements, visibility, heritage value and condition.
By doing so the city could then make informed decisions regarding the possible redevelopment of the property or at least show it has taken a thorough look at all areas of structure before determining its fate.
In the SHPRB's final recommendation it states, if the property is redeveloped, the south and west walls of the facade "could be incorporated into the new development." However, the interior historical elements of the building have been lost.
Lyndsay McCready can be reached at 691-1256.
