Owls and Roosters: Developer Remai Ventures destroys historic Canadian Legion building in Saskatoon; City Council & Meewasin Valley Authority do nothing

“They're losing the last heritage building in the south end of Saskatoon. It has historical significance because it was built by veterans of the First World War with their own hands. It wasn't a dramatic building. It wasn't spectacular. It wasn't huge, but it was a good-looking building.”
– Victoria Neufeldt, president, Saskatoon Heritage Society

“We try to draw attention to the plight of such buildings. These are fully functional buildings. It could have been converted into another use, whether it be a museum or offices. (But) it doesn’t look like there was a lot of public sympathy in Saskatoon for it.”
– Al Rosseker, executive director, Saskatchewan Architectural Heritage Society

Developer Remai Ventures Inc. has made good on its promise to destroy the historic Royal Canadian Legion, Branch 63, building located at 315 19th Street East in downtown Saskatoon.

Starting on the building’s west side F. Peters Excavating began demolition on Thursday, June 28, 2007 with the wreckage transported to the landfill.

According to the City of Saskatoon Building Standards Branch the demolition permit was issued on May 23, 2007.

Designed by legion member and prominent Saskatoon architect David Webster, the hall was built in 1929 by local veterans of the First World War and was the last remaining piece of built heritage in the city’s historic South Downtown. The property, which is comprised of two parcels totaling 0.25 acres, was sold to Remai Ventures in February 2006 for a reported $1-million. The Information Services Corporation of Saskatchewan online database shows the value of property as $1-million which seems to confirm the purchase price.

In Locals salute fallen Legion Building (SP June 29, 2007), Curtis Zwack, Remai’s director of real estate said “We don't have any plans yet for the Legion site” and called it a “holding property.”

Apparently none of the brick was salvaged for reuse in another building. Zwack claims the exterior brick was brittle because of the heating and cooling over the years. He also said it would be “extremely tedious” and time consuming to take the building apart brick by brick without having the bricks shatter.

The destruction of the Legion Building brings to a close one of the sorriest chapters of the City of Saskatoon’s redevelopment of the South Downtown. In 2004, the former Saskatoon Technical Collegiate (1931) was demolished and later cited by the Heritage Canada Foundation as the worst loss of heritage in Canada that year. The pending demise of the legion hall made the Foundation’s 2007 Top 10 Most Endangered Places in Canada list and was put on a “demolition watch” by the Saskatchewan Architectural Heritage Society. The Saskatoon Heritage Society supported preserving both buildings.

The tragic loss of the buildings happened on the watch of Mayor Don Atchison. The City did nothing to stop their demolition, and neither did the Meewasin Valley Authority (MVA).

The MVA is a conservation organization dedicated to conserving the natural and cultural heritage resources of the South Saskatchewan River Valley in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and area. Part of its jurisdiction includes the land south of 19th Street where the Legion Building and Technical Collegiate once stood.

Meewasin’s Board of Directors is comprised of three partners: the Province of Saskatchewan, the City of Saskatoon and the University of Saskatchewan.

Among the organization’s stated goals and principles are:

– To protect the natural and heritage resources of the Meewasin Valley
– To develop and encourage projects which enhance the natural and heritage resources and add to the quality of life in Saskatoon
– The need for recreation and other development should be balanced with the need for natural and heritage resource conservation
– Significant natural and heritage resources should be preserved

The MVA claims it does not have the power to stop demolition. This is debatable since it has bylaw making power that, if used, might have saved either or both buildings. Regardless, the MVA certainly had the power to, at the very least, publicly advocate for the preservation of the buildings but never did. It remained absolutely silent which was likely due in part to politics at the Board level. Nevertheless the organization clearly abandoned its mandate. Its focus became one of interpretation rather than preservation or conservation. The result is that any hope of a tangible and meaningful connection to the city’s past in the South Downtown (now called River Landing) has been lost forever.

(Photos by Joe Kuchta)