The latest attempt to rehabilitate the property at 11th Avenue and 102nd Street has ended in another victory for the pigeons.
The score now stands at pigeons 2, developers 0. Local developer Ryan Shepherd, who had attempted to purchase the buildings from the City, is the latest to throw in the towel on efforts to revive the property and rid the building of its now-infamous pigeon population.
Prior to his efforts, Ironjet Developments of Lloydminster had also tried redeveloping the property, also to no avail. Redevelopment was a condition of sale in both instances.
In the end, the challenge and costs of rehabilitating the 11th Avenue property simply proved too great.
Now, the City once again owns the property and the prospect of finally sending in the wrecking ball looms large.
“It’s been a while and nothing’s really happening with these buildings,” explained City Manager Jim Puffalt.
“It’s something we have to either decide to do something, or not.”
At council Monday, a resolution was passed allowing administration to investigate the demolition of the adjoining buildings at 10103 and 10107 - 11th Ave. with City resources, and failing that, to obtain a quote from a qualified contractor.
That clears the way for City officials to start looking at demolition options. However, they do plan one final effort to save the building.
Puffalt said the City has met with Richard Hiebert, president of the Battlefords Heritage Society regarding the future of the property. In those discussions the City was urged to try one more time to find a buyer, and the City has agreed to that request.
They plan to put the property up for tender and find a buyer by early February. Puffalt told reporters that the tender was expected to go out either this week or next.
In the meantime, Puffalt said they will investigate whether they can do anything with their own resources at the property.
“Equipment and manpower is available at this time as we ramp up for spring, so we may have an opportunity to do some work there to help reduce the cost,” he said.
The plan is for all the information to be put together to come back to council by sometime mid-February, so “we can make a decision one way or the other.”
