Regina City Council decided to not grant heritage status to the Bagshaw Residence.
The home in the Crescents was deemed too rundown to be worth the repairs needed to make it livable by the Saskatchewan Heritage Foundation (SHF) review board.
Mayor Sandra Masters says it was hard for council to ignore the findings of the SHF.
“I understand that it’s very rare that they wouldn’t agree for a heritage designation, so the fact that they went the other way, weighed heavily, I think, upon council,” said Masters.
While she was disheartened to not grant heritage status to the Bagshaw house, she wishes more was done to preserve the house in the first place.
She says she will be exploring architectural controls for heritage neighbourhoods in the city.
“I want to get to a place where our Heritage Policy is conducive to people coming together and working together, and coming up with a plan,” said Masters. “Whether it’s architectural controls, or a very consistent ongoing review of heritage inventory, so that you can intervene before properties reach the point the Bagshaw Residence has.”
Masters says the city is in a complicated spot when it comes to preserving the city’s heritage and moving into the future.
“We only have a few heritage neighbourhoods, in terms of residence, and those are worth protecting. So, you have to develop a policy which actually works to that end,” said Masters. “We have to envelop both the residents’ wishes, an actual focus on heritage preservation, and weigh that against some of the costs associated for property owners.”
After not being designated a heritage property, the most-likely fate of the house on 56 Angus Crescent is demolition.
