1911 Cartage building up for heritage designation
One commissioner opposes move making ‘neighbourhoods into museums’
The building that once housed Krazy Kiley’s is on the road to a heritage-property designation, but it first had to surmount objections that the Warehouse District risks becoming a “museum.”
Located at 2220 Dewdney Ave., the building is officially known as the Regina Cartage Building. The squat brick structure went up in 1911 to accommodate a wagon business that shipped freight to therailline.
It’s currently vacant, except for a gym in the basement. But the owner is preparing to sell. Marshall Young, a real estate agent involved in the sale, said there are “a few balls up in the air.”
“We currently have someone interested who wants to do offices, and someone interested who wants to do retail,” he said.
Young confirmed that the owner is seeking the heritage designation to facilitate parking in advance of the sale. Under existing regulations, the city can relax parking requirements for heritage properties.
The designation also opens the door for a tax incentives under Regina’s Heritage Building Rehabilitation Program. City administration noted that the owner intends to pursue that option.
In an application to the city, the owner emphasized the building ’s vertical lines, utilitarian design and “simplified modern architecture of the Chicago School.”
That submission came before Regina Planning Commission on Wednesday. It left one member unconvinced. Commission member Robert Porter called the owner’s argument “very, very general.”
He noted that the Warehouse District is supposed to become a magnet for future development, and warned that the heritage designation could interfere.
“I always have concerns when we essentially make our neighbourhoods into museums,” he said. “I’m worried that this property, although a very beautiful brick building, will stifle potential growth if someone wanted to put a six-storey residential property there, which I think would be a better use than a low-density, albeit nice-looking building.”
Owners require permits for work on heritage-designated properties, according to provincial law, and cannot demolish them without written approval. They must preserve what planning director Louise Folk called “character-defining elements.”
“It’s held to higher standards than any other property in the city when it comes to moving forward with any sort of restoration or work,” she said. “This is a first step to putting a level of protection on the property.”
When it came to a vote, Porter was the only commissioner to oppose the idea. Many said the building fits well into the streetscape along Dewdney Avenue. Coun. Barbara Young commended the owner for seeking to protect the historic structure. The proposed designation will now go to city council for final approval.