Regina city council denies demolition request for site where Louis Riel's body was kept

City council has rejected an application to demolish a downtown Regina building with a connection to Louis Riel. 

At a meeting on Wednesday, council voted 9-1 to deny an application to demolish the Burns Hanley Building. 

Coun. Terina Shaw of Ward 7 was the only dissenting vote. 

The Burns Hanley Building sits on the site once occupied by St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, which was built in 1883.

The Burns Hanley Building was constructed on the site in 1912. The church that previously stood on the site was where Louis Riel's body was briefly kept after the Métis leader's execution in 1885, before it was sent to Winnipeg.

City staff initially recommended approving the demolition application for 1863 Cornwall St., but that recommendation was voted against by the Regina planning commission at an Oct. 6 meeting.

The committee recommended that council deny the demolition application and order Harvard Developments, the company that owns the property, to complete "at minimum" repairs necessary to stabilize the building and preserve its facade. 

Council amended the recommendations, referring the issue to the provinces Heritage Review Board instead of ordering Harvard Development to stabilize the building. 

The review board will now decide about what can and should be done. 

Coun. Bob Hawkins was one of the voices in strong support of protecting the building's facade. 

That idea was supported by Jackie Schmidt of Heritage Regina, who spoke to council ahead of its vote. 

Schmidt said she would accept the building's demolition due to the sad state of the structure as long as there were efforts from the city and Harvard to keep the original facade. 

"The facade of the building is what is protected and so we should put steel supports on that facade until such time as they come up with a plan as to what that looks like," Schmidt said. 

The Burns Hanley Building is a designated heritage building in the city's Victoria Park Heritage Conservation District. 

Harvard applied for a permit to demolish the building in July 2021, citing its deteriorating condition. 

A 2019 engineering report by JCK Engineering found the building had undergone years of sustained water damage due to a damage roof and broken pipes. 

The report recommended $200,000 in repairs that would have helped to stabilize the building. 

No repairs were carried out. 

Two years later, the same company inspected the building again and found that water damage was so severe, and the condition was so poor, that they were unable to inspect parts of the structure. 

"The building is unsafe and should not be occupied for any reason," the JCK Engineering report concludes. 

Due to the extensive damage, the repair estimates have skyrocketed to $4.7 million. That includes structural repairs, shoring up walls, and removal of debris and hazardous material. 

Organizations and councillors speaking in favour of preserving the building ahead of Wednesday's vote raised concerns about how the building deteriorated and why repairs weren't carried out after the 2019 engineering report. 

In a letter to members of city council, Heritage Regina implied the Burns Hanley Building is a "victim of demolition by neglect." 

Organizations noted that the city could have used its powers under the Heritage Property Act to enforce required maintenance of municipal heritage properties. 

Harvard's initial application did not have a proposed redevelopment plan, despite a city bylaw requiring one. 

Instead, Harvard said its initial plan was to infill the basement of the demolished building, as it plans to acquire neighbouring properties and then develop a mixed-use highrise building. 

City staff noted in its report that allowing the demolition could create a precedent for "allowing the neglect and deterioration of other designated buildings."