Town council at Monday's meeting. (Angela Brown/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Angela Brown

Building standards

Town gives owners of historic Queen’s Hotel more time before it’s potentially demolished

Oct 17, 2023 | 7:03 AM

The owners of the Queen’s Hotel in Battleford will have a little more time to decide on the future of the site which is in a dilapidated condition.

Battleford Town Council approved administration’s recommendation to grant the owners until March 1, 2024, to have the building demolished.

The property located at 101-25th St. W. in Battleford is one of Saskatchewan’s oldest buildings.

Queen’s Hotel. (Destination Battlefords)

Council previously approved town administration to prepare an order for the property to be demolished on or before Nov. 1, 2023.

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Town community planner Ryan Mackrell said in his report the owners of the property have since submitted an appeal, asking for more time to deal with the property.

It was also noted during council’s meeting that the property also has asbestos issues, in addition to being derelict and in disrepair.

Mackrell said Mayor Ames Leslie and administration met with the property owners to discuss the situation.

“Through this meeting, a new potential date of demolition came forward being March 1, 2024,” he said. “On this date, if the building is not demolished, the Town can follow through with the order and charge any costs back to the property owners or look at other options, such as another extension [date].”

Leslie noted following council that the owners officially have until February 28th to have the building addressed.

“Maybe they’ll have it sold, maybe there will be a new owner,” he said. “But at that time, March 1st, the town will start taking steps to make sure the building is addressed in whatever means is possible. If that comes to a demolition permit, then we will look to have it demoed at the cost of the owners.”

Leslie noted in the worst-case scenario the building would need to be demolished if no one steps forward to buy it and bring it up to code.

In the meantime, administration will meet with the owners once a month to touch base as a sort of check-in on their work to keep the building secure.

“It’s a pretty big landmark for a lot of people over the years,” Leslie said. “But things like this happen, and unfortunately we just have to address it. I think this council is pretty adamant; they don’t want to leave this problem for the next council to have to [deal with]. We want a solid plan in place, so we’re not downloading another problem to the next council.”

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Angela.Brown@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW