Future of historic Swift Current building up in the air
A historic Swift Current building dating back to the Second World War may still escape the wrecking ball if someone is interested in moving it from its current location in the Ashley Park neighbourhood.
The City of Swift Current has deemed the building unfit for use, but offered an opportunity for anyone interested in the structure to remove it.
The City announced the changing status of the Ashley Park Hall during a community open house held on Feb. 8 to update residents on the redevelopment plan for the former school site in the neighbourhood.
Residents were informed the hall will be demolished and the area will become part of the redevelopment activities, because the site is located across the street from the former Ashley Park school.
Jim Jones, the City's interim chief administrative officer, said input from Swift Current Mayor Al Bridal after the community open house resulted in a decision to provide an opportunity to anyone with an interest in the old building to remove it from the site.
“After our community consultation that we had with roughly 40 or 50 people there, we had the comment that came through the mayor that maybe we should put it out just as a one-week advertising to see if somebody wanted to take the hall away without us actually having to demolish it,” Jones explained. “So we decided to put it in the paper and some social media.”
The expression of interest notification invited anyone interested in retaining and moving the hall off-site to contact the City for details and a site visit. The deadline for interested parties to express their interest was March 16.
Jones, who spoke to media after the March 6 council meeting, said the City has already received one enquiry.
“We have so far had one person come forward that's interested in it, and they're just looking at it to see what the cost would be to move it, because it's such a tall building,” he said. “It would mean that it would not go under the power line. So there's quite a considerable cost for our power crew or SaskPower to get that actually to where it has to go. So we'll see.”
If this person decides to proceed, it will mean the building will be moved to a rural location outside City limits. However, if no one wants to proceed with the removal of the building, then the City will demolish the structure.
“That was always our intent to do that,” he said. “It was just through the mayor. He decided that we should try to see if there was somebody who want to take it. … If there isn't, then we'll just keep moving forward the way that we were to.”
The City created a facility team in December 2022 to do a feasibility assessment of the building. It found that Ashley Park Hall is beyond repair and at the end of its lifespan. Major repairs at a cost of between $200,000 and $300,000 will be necessary before the building can be used.
There was no objection to the City's decision to tear down the building during the community open house. A feeling was expressed that it will be preferable to spend funds on a park and green space in the redevelopment site instead of repairing the old hall.
“So it just was felt that we have lots of City venues right now that we're renting out for meetings,” he said. “It's not that we're short. At the end of the day again it just comes back to what the community wanted and we had a lot more interest in if there was going to be development of that area for future homes rather than the hall being taken down.”
Ashley Park Hall was originally located at the Swift Current Airport during the Second World War, where it was used as a cinema from Dec. 15, 1941 to March 24, 1944. Allied airmen from across the world came to the airport for training at the No. 39 Service Flying Training School.
Several of the buildings at the airport was moved to Swift Current after the war, and the one in the Ashley Park neighbourhood became a community hall. Three other wartime buildings from the airport are still in use in the city. They are the Lions Hall across the street from the Swift Current Fire Hall, the Shrine Hut near the art gallery and library, and the H-hut at Kinetic Park.
Jones noted the City therefore felt it was just time to take a decision on the future of the Ashley Park Hall, because they want to move forward with the redevelopment plan. The City will save some money if it does not need to demolish the building and someone actually removes the structure.
“The City would still be responsible for removing the old basement and the cement, and filling the hole in anyway,” he said. “So if somebody wanted to do that and at their expense take it, then the City would look at it, because it would cost us less money to do so.”