REGINA — A building standing in Regina for over a century will soon be demolished.
In a unanimous vote on Wednesday, Regina city council approved the demolition of the Credit Foncier Building located at 2184 12th Avenue, while preserving the façade and any significant heritage features.
First constructed in 1911, the Credit Foncier Building remained one of the few structures in Regina built before World War I.
Its name was inspired by the Credit Foncier Franco-Canadien Mortgage Company Ltd., which occupied the space from 1912 until 1988.
Western Limited purchased the property in 1988 and utilized the space until 2023 after the Gordon Block fire, which was the primary cause of extensive damage to the property.
Adrian Burns, president of Western Limited, described having constant challenges in the 26 months since the fire occurred, including vandalism.
“The unoccupied building quickly became the target for theft, including things like the beautiful brass railings in the interior stairwell.”
Burns also mentioned that the building lost gas, water and electricity after the demolition of the Gordon Building, and the insurance company wouldn’t cover the cost.
Trying to keep history
Jackie Schmidt of Heritage Regina expressed concerns about the façade for the space not being utilized for future development.
The concern came from a line in a recommended option for the report, which reads, “The façade and any significant heritage features [will] be carefully dismantled where feasible and stored for use in future development where practical.”
Schmidt called this a loophole.
“Feasible and practical are loopholes large enough to ensure that the façade is never reconstructed. Never integrated or never returned to the district.”
Schmidt asked council to retain and underpin the two Tyndall stone façades on the front of the Credit Foncier Building.
However, Burns mentioned that a lot of the Tyndall stone on the front of the building is already cracked.
“It’s not a perfect façade, and so I interpret … that they’re pieces that can be saved, but there are some that are already in a destructive state.”
Deputy city manager of city planning, Deborah Bryden, noted there is no certainty for the Tyndall pieces staying together once demolition begins.
“So [any future development] might not be able to build an entire wall with the Heritage components of this.”
Bryden also cautioned about safety issues with pedestrians and traffic around Pat Fiaco Plaza, by leaving up the Tyndall stone façades.
Western Limited said it would cost $850,000 to repair the Tyndall stone and pin it down.
In a 2024 estimation, the cost of the remediation of the Credit Foncier Building was pegged at $2.314 million.
This cost doesn’t include taxes, overtime, design, consultant, and engineering fees, etc.
“There will also be the cost to make the building to code with new electrical panels and handicap accessible entrances and existing washrooms, as well as the construction of new washrooms on the main floor with an estimated cost of approximately $1,000,000,” mentions the report.
“The maintenance is not a factor anymore, it’s simply not existent and won’t happen,” said Burns.
Recognizing the cost incurred by the property owners, councillors agreed to demolish the space.
“This is a situation that was much of it out of their control. There is a situation today because of unforeseen circumstances,” said Mayor Chad Bachynski.
The property the building sits on will remain as part of the Victoria Park Heritage Conservation District.
This district was adopted to establish an area of heritage properties surrounding Victoria Park as a municipal heritage conservation district.
Western Limited has indicated it will sell off the land to a developer after demolition.
In the short term, the Regina Downtown Business Improvement District will incorporate the property into existing interim plans for the adjacent vacant land.
