Salmon Arm residents shared a similar vision for the city's old municipal hall, united in a desire to preserve rather than demolish.
A 2023 structural assessment found the building at 31 Hudson St. to be in poor condition, having issues with the roof, walls and foundation, explained city planning and community services director Gary Buxton during a June 17 town hall meeting in council chambers.
The gathering was held to let city residents have a say in the fate of the building. First, Buxton provided some background on the building as well as several options for it and/or the property.
The original brick section of the building facing Hudson was constructed by William Reader in 1928, with additions made in the 1970s and '80s.
In his structural assessment, engineer Joey Funk of Bar Engineering Co. said 鈥渟ignificant financial investment should be expected to maintain the current condition of the building, preserve the historical significance of the exterior brick walls, and prevent potential collapse in the future.鈥�
Buxton noted a hazardous materials assessment was also done and found the building to contain asbestos, lead paint and crystalline silica 鈥� "so whatever we do, those issues are going to have to be dealt with."
Funk offered three mitigation options. One was a complete replacement of the building, estimated to cost between $940,000 and $1.4 million. A second option, partial replacement, was estimated to cost more, between $967,000 to $1.46 million. Other options were for repair and revitalization ($700,000 to $1.05 million) and interim repair, which Buxton said would be $150,000. This excludes work on mechanical, electrical or other operational parts of the building.
The city too provided options including demolition and using the property as a new small open space or parklet.
"If you go with minimal landscaping and some furniture we could probably get in the area of $50,000," said Buxton. "If you wanted to do something a little more elaborate, with landscaping, some interpretive features and some shade sails. That鈥檚鈥� around $150,000 鈥� that doesn鈥檛 include the $100,000 it鈥檚 going to cost to bring the building down."
No one at the meeting expressed an interest in seeing the building come down 鈥� at least not the front half.
Deborah Chapman, R.J. Haney Heritage Village and Museum curator/archivist for the past 35 years, referred to the old municipal hall as part of the downtown's "government precinct" that includes the old court house and the Salmon Arm Arts Centre, which originally served as a post office.
Chapman, who also sits on the city's Heritage Commission, leaned towards restoration, and suggested grants might be available to support the work.
"I feel quite strongly about this building; it has character, it stands out when compared to other commercial buildings that are built today," said Chapman. "I believe it is your duty as members of the city council to find a way to preserve this building, because not only is it your building, it is the community鈥檚 and it is our residents'鈥� this one has been entrusted to you to preserve. I hope you don鈥檛 sent it to the landfill."
Fellow Heritage Commission member Patti Kassa said the old municipal hall contributes to the charm of the downtown, but recognized the building "definitely needs help." However, her concern was only for the front, brick portion.
"The old addition at the back needs to be taken off because it鈥檚 not historical and has no value鈥�," said Kassa.
"I recognize that council is under great financial pressure, with Memorial Arena, water treatment and sewer plant upgrades, and there鈥檚 not enough money for all of these projects. Because of this people will say, may say, why would you save an old building? I feel that heritage conservation helps us acknowledge our past鈥� knowing our past helps us to go forward."
Kassa suggested subdividing the property, selling the rear portion and using that money to fix the building.
Architect Bernd Hermanski, whose office is at the old court house, said he was very much in favour of keeping the building.
"With a couple of partners we owned the old courthouse building across the street from 2003 until 2022, and we did a major, major makeover of that building in 2006," said Hermanski. "I 100 per cent feel it was worth it. I feel we saved what is the best and most important historical building in town through those efforts. This one, while not as grand as the courthouse鈥� it does form that lovely precinct of heritage buildings in our community鈥�."
Hermanski said he recently had a quick look at the building and while there is damage, it is not something that can't be repaired.
"I think to do the structure repairs and get rid of the asbestos and put in a modern heating system鈥� that it could be made quite rentable," said Hermanski, suggesting the renovated building could, if used as a professional space, could be rented for $2,000 a month.
James Murray, however, had his own vision, to see the building restored and used as a science centre.
"They have one in Vernon, they have one in Kamloops, I think we could build an amazing site here in Salmon Arm and that would be a great building for it," commented Murray, who said he'd gladly donate between $50,000 and $100,000 for the resources to run the centre.
"It could be an amazing thing that would draw people to Salmon Arm, and we鈥檇 still have our heritage building," said Murray, who runs summer science camps for kids.
Hermanski later returned to the podium to volunteer his time to "at least study this situation at more detail鈥� just to get a deeper understanding of what exactly would be required to restore it, at least to a usable level and to a level at which point it could be leased out to somebody for some actual revenue to help with some of the costs going forward."
Murray too returned to the podium to stress the importance of preserving the city's heritage for future generations, referring to a group of three people in the audience, one of the being Jasmine Reichlin, who was next to speak. Reichlin identified Chapman as her surrogate grandmother, and said she's spent a lot of her time at Haney, "which has given me, I think, an appreciation for the history of Salmon Arm."
Reichlin shared her upset with the former McGuire house having been torn down, and said "for the younger generation, I especially think it鈥檚 important to immerse yourself in your history."
"Salmon Arm has a mixed one, in my experience, but this building here has clearly been a place of gathering and good, and for that reason I think that it definitely should be preserved in any way possible."
Last at the podium was Bill Laird, who owns the parking lot west of the old municipal hall.
"We would be prepared to work with the city if the city was interested in selling a portion and adding it to that lot, and we would do whatever we could to help fix the building if in fact it鈥檚 proven that can be done," said Laird, noting he too toured the building and found its biggest problem has to do with the roof spreading, with the trusses pushing at the brick walls.
"But as Berndt pointed out they can be pulled back in," said Laird. "So it remains to be seen if the building can be saved. There鈥檚 a groundswell here and I think we could find more in the community."
Coun. David Gonnella, who chairs the cultural heritage and Haney committees, thanked everyone for their input, noting "it鈥檚 important to hear from you because we will need your support for whatever we decide at budget time, so please come back and let us know then how you feel."
Mayor Alan Harrison said no decisions have been made, and told those gathered that council feels "very similar to the way you have expressed yourselves."
"We don鈥檛 have unlimited funds so that makes the decision much more difficult. So we鈥檒l do our best," said Harrison.
