The City of North Battleford has agreed to a land swap deal that will allow them to demolish two buildings in the downtown area in the coming months.
The land swap agreement, which was authorized for execution unanimously at Monday night’s meeting, involves a City-owned property at 1192 - 97th St. and the property on 1122 - 101st St., owned by Terry Caldwell of Empress Furniture. The deal calls for the land swap “as is.”
The 1122 - 101st St. property includes a building that shares a common wall with the building at 1112 - 101st St., which was the former location of the LongHorn Steakhouse.
The building has since been taken over by the City through tax enforcement. During 2018 budget deliberations, Director of Planning and Development Jennifer Niesink said the building was not salvageable and would be torn down.
“It’s becoming an increasing liability and it is crumbling before our eyes,” said Niesink in December.
With this land swap, the City now takes over the adjoining 1122 - 101st St. property, and will proceed to demolition. Council voted to award the contract to demolish both buildings to Silverado Demolition.
Caldwell will take ownership of the property on 97th Street. The indication from Niesink Monday night was that Caldwell plans to build at that location.
In speaking to the Regional Optimist, Mayor Ryan Bater said he expects the demolition will proceed sometime this summer.
He also acknowledged the loss of two buildings with long histories downtown.
“It’s unfortunate when aged properties in our downtown see demolition, but once a property is beyond repair, it’s beyond repair,” said Bater.
“You either take the necessary step to reclaim that land and make it available for development, or you simply allow a dilapidated property to exist and we didn’t want to see that happen any longer.”
