WEYBURN – The demolition of Weyburn’s historic Souris School began over the weekend, and could not be legally stopped as the Southeast Cornerstone School Division followed the tender process for the demolition to occur.
Local entrepreneur Rodney Sidloski, of HELP International, was left frustrated when a crew from Adair’s Demolitions began to take down the building on Sunday, as he had a late offer in on the school property with the school division with a view to use the building for training and education.
Souris closed as an elementary school a year and a half ago, and the staff and students were moved over to the new Legacy Park Elementary School along with those of Haig and Queen Elizabeth Schools.
Sidloski had made a last-moment plea to consider their offer on the school in the week before the demolition began. Once the equipment arrived on Saturday at the Souris school site, he then offered to pay the expenses of Adair’s Demolitions to not demolish the school.
The offer came too late to be legally considered, said Southeast Cornerstone School Division’s education director Keith Keating, who explained the timeline process and how everything transpired. He noted that Souris School was listed for sale as of June 30, 2021 and remained for sale until November 1, 2022.
“During this period there were no offers to purchase the facility. The facility was degrading during the time it sat empty, there was a cost to maintain the facility and there was significant risk to individuals who entered the building on numerous occasions unlawfully,” he said, adding details on how the approval for the demolition came about.
“Approval for demolition of the building, along with funding approval, was provided by the Ministry of Education on February 9, 2022. A tender was placed on Sask Tenders, as legally required, for the demolition of Souris School on October 3, 2022. That tender was awarded on November 1, 2022, and the company was on site to start hazardous materials abatement on November 8, 2022. No offers for the facility were received prior to the date of the tender being awarded or the work being started by the contractor,” said Keating.
“After the tender was awarded, the building was no longer for sale as the School Division was not in a legal position to consider any offer. Furthermore, there were no formal offers that agreed to cover the cost awarded to the contractor for demolition of the school. The land is still for sale and will remain open to offers until sold,” he added.
An offer in writing was given by Sidloski on Dec. 7 to the school division, in which he wrote, “I wish to express our interest in discussing purchase of the above mentioned property. We are interested in utilizing property for continued use as an education facility for our growing international and local education and research program combined with community sports and other community support activities. We also recognize the heritage value of the property and will ensure the integrity of the facility as a heritage property despite our use of the facility.”
In a followup letter on Friday to the school division, the terms of their offer for the school building and land were set out, with the offer to conclude full payment within 10 weeks. The amount offered was not disclosed, but the letter stated they intended to maintain the character of the structure to preserve its heritage value and significance.
