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City opting to demolish ‘old brick building’
Bricks and history to be maintained/reused and recorded
City of Cranbrook council March 18 unanimously approved the demolition of the building, with the catch the bricks be salvaged and kept for future development “in an appropriate way” and that a photographic record be kept for future reference, as recommended by the Wellness and Heritage Committee.
The unanimous vote did include Coun. Gerry Warner’s, as he is currently in Ethiopia on a Cranbrook Sunrise Rotary Club project. Warner is the reason the fate of the building was handed to the Wellness and Heritage Committee, which suggested and won a stay of demolition for the building in October 2012 so city staff could conduct a review of “the architectural merit of the structure, the history of the building, and provide an accurate estimate on the cost to make the building structurally safe, including rebuilding options.”
City staff found it would cost taxpayers about $135,000 to make the building structurally safe.
“The building was deemed to not have any significant architectural or heritage value, and the costs to make the building structurally safe were deemed prohibitive,” noted the city’s Leisure Services department in a report to council.
While sympathetic to the plight of the structure, council members said the cost to repair it wasn’t worth it.
“The building itself… is doomed,” said Coun. Diana J Scott. “It’s in very poor shape. It’s not very salvageable and in my mind it’s a box.” She also noted that by freeing up that space, the city could “do more with city hall or for parking, or add on to the police station.”
Mayor Wayne Stetski pointed out that a unique feature of the building is the interlocking brickwork and its corner base work (cement disguised as stones). He said he’d like to see that style replicated when the bricks, believed to have been made in Cranbrook, are utilized on a future city project.
While in favour of removal, Coun. Angus Davis joked, “You just don’t get rid of things because they’re old” and suggested “ an obituary in the paper” would be appropriate.
Ian Cobb/e-KNOW
