TRAVELLERS BUILDING
Cause of fire still unknown
The cause of the fire that destroyed the Travellers Building may never be known.
The heritage building, formerly located at 1833 Broad St., was demolished after a fire broke out during the early hours of March 8.
An investigation by Regina’s fire department found that the fire originated in the attic space above the second storey.
Investigators were unable to determine a cause.
During an interview on Friday, Deputy Chief David Kinvig said the investigation deemed the fire to be unintentional.
But when asked how that conclusion was reached since the cause was undetermined, Kinvig said arson had not been ruled out.
“It could have been, but we’re not thinking so. So it’s kind of up in the air too, so it’s a tough one,” said Kinvig.
Due to safety hazards, investigators were unable to enter the building or conduct a thorough investigation.
“The walls were very shaky and could collapse at any time with that brick, so you couldn’t put anybody in there to investigate it,” said Kinvig.
Investigators had to make do with observing the scene from above using ladder trucks. Kinvig admitted the circumstances did not make for a good investigation.
When asked if the investigation would continue, Kinvig said “probably not.”
“I don’t know if they’re going to be doing anything more on it cause they really don’t have anything,” said Kinvig.
The property’s owner, Michael Lee, spoke briefly with the LeaderPost on March 8.
“I don’t even know what reaction you want from me. This is just horrible,” said Lee, before quickly hanging up the phone.
The property had fallen into disrepair after being left mostly vacant since the mid-1990s. It was awarded municipal heritage status in 2001, but some residents lamented that nothing ever became of the historic building.
“We should care that the building was allowed to remain vacant for such a long period of time, and apparently nothing done to address some of the issues,” local historian Bill Brennan told the Leader-Post in March.
Built in 1929, the building was designed by Storey and Van Egmond.
Over the years, it housed a dance hall, car dealership, a bus depot and many other businesses.
Brad Pickard of P3Architecture had come up with a plan to repurpose the building when it was put up for sale in 2014. Part of the plan included a year-round farmers market.
But the only tenants the Travellers Building had leading up to its destruction were pigeons. Richard Swallow cleared almost 2,000 birds from the property two years ago.
One of Swallow’s former employees, Doug Philip, described the inside of the building as “just like out of a horror movie.”
“It was so dangerous to go in there without any type of proper respiratory support, because there was about three or four inches of feces on the floor covering it. Hundreds of nesting spots inside the building,” said Swallow.