Saskatchewan's first mental hospital could be demolished if no developer is found

Saskatchewan's first dedicated mental-health hospital is in danger of being demolished after its replacement opens.

Saskatchewan Hospital in North Battleford first opened in 1914. Now the Saskatchewan Health Authority is building a new facility next door.

Ross Keith, president of Nicor Group, which has restored heritage buildings including the Leader Post and the Donahue in Regina, said the building has historical value worth preserving.

"It's an incredibly important story that needs to be told. It should be looked at not just as is there some other use that can be put in it before it's torn down. It speaks to a different way of dealing with mental illness than we do now," he said.

The Government of Saskatchewan said it will start looking for developers to submit proposals in the next six to eight months.

It's an incredibly important story that needs to be told ... It speaks to a different way of dealing with mental illness than we do now.- Ross Keith, developer

A government assessment found the building is not appropriate for any other currently-needed public sector use. Any potential use or redevelopment of the facility by the private sector will be determined through an open tender process, with the building being sold to the highest bidder.

"The key to dealing with these building is getting a user. You're nowhere if you can't find a user for the thing," said Keith.

Frank Korvemaker, a Saskatchewan architecture historian, said the stigma of a mental hospital may deter developers from putting forward a proposal.

"When there are incentives to demolish, but not to preserve, that makes it very difficult for boards, hospitals, schools to pick the preservation option because the government hands out financial assistance to build new," he said.

Korvemaker said the Saskatchewan Hospital is the only remaining mental hospital in the province. He said prominent private architects designed the building and that such facilities were generally well-built and could last even longer with major restoration work.

He said people often want to tear down buildings where past injustices occurred. Mental health practices in the 1910s were much different than they are today.

We are good at recycling pieces of papers and pop bottles, but not good at recycling historic buildings in this province.- Frank Korvemaker, architect historian

Keith said the government should declare the Saskatchewan Hospital as a heritage building and shouldn't be discouraged by negativity surrounding treatments that are no longer considered humane.

"The fact that it's a negative story that we can learn something from it is more the reason for want to be telling that story. Same way as they want to tell the story of the residential schools," Keith said.

Jane Shury is the Committee Chair of the Save Saskatchewan Hospital North Battleford. She says the Battlefords North West Historical Society has been active in attempting to save the hospital, or part of it, as well as the history of the care and treatment provided during the past 105 years.

"The possibility of having the Saskatchewan Hospital become a Heritage building has been discussed many times. The organization is now focusing on saving what is financially feasible," Shury said.

Korvemaker has doubts about whether anything will be preserved. He said that the provincial government planned to salvage the bricks from the province's other historic mental hospital in Weyburn, but in the end, it was demolished and nothing was saved.

"We are good at recycling pieces of papers and pop bottles, but not good at recycling historic buildings in this province," he said.