Letter to Municipal Heritage Advisory Committee regarding the Legion Building and King George Hotel for March 8, 2006, meeting

February 24, 2006



Municipal Heritage Advisory Committee
City of Saskatoon
222 Third Avenue North
Saskatoon, SK S7K 0J5


Dear Committee Members:

I am writing regarding the Legion Building and the King George Hotel, which were discussed at the February 1, 2006 MHAC meeting (Item #2 – Report of the Chair). I understand it was determined that, since neither building was on the Holding Bylaw there is nothing standing in the way of their demolition.

With respect to the Legion I wrote to Mayor Don Atchison on February 4, 2006, requesting details on the City’s efforts to establish a veterans museum within the building. Unfortunately, the February 13, 2006, response from his office did not provide any meaningful information on the matter. (See attachments)

What is not known is the date on which the Mayor met with Legion representatives, what the city specifically offered or proposed or what concerns either side might have had. There is simply no quality information explaining why discussions failed. If Saskatoon is to lose this historic building it might be nice to know exactly why.

Regarding the King George Hotel the minutes from the February 1 MHAC meeting indicate that: “It has been determined that the front façade cannot be repaired and that a determination will need to be made as to whether this building is safe and can be made viable for re-use or will need to be demolished.”

What is not clear however is who made the determination that the front façade cannot be repaired or how and when will it be known whether the building is safe and can be made viable for re-use?

For the benefit of the public and committee I feel further information from the City is required.

I would like to ask the committee to please consider requesting a written report from city administration addressing both these issues in greater detail.

Thank you very much for taking the time to receive my correspondence.

Sincerely,



Joe Kuchta
Saskatoon, SK

/Attachments

Cc:
Joseph-Michel Fortier, A/Chair, Municipal Heritage Advisory Committee
Victoria Neufeldt, President, Saskatoon Heritage Society