It’s not over yet.
Following a brief discussion during Monday evening’s council meeting, the District of Hope Council has tabled the decision on a stay of demolition for the Hope Station House until the Feb. 22 meeting to give district staff and officials time to deliberate.
Representatives of the Coalition for the Preservation of the Hope Station House spoke before council, looking for a six-month stay of demolition to buy the coalition more time to seek financing for preservation options. Additionally, the Coalition requested access to the Station House to better assess what needs to be done.
“We would like to really give it a thorough try to see if we can’t save that building somehow or other,” said Coalition representative Arlene Webster. “We don’t want the land necessarily. We do want the building.”
The Hope Station House was built in 1916 and currently stands at Old Hope Princeton Way and has sat empty for a number of years. The agreement to demolish the building came as part of a district lawsuit settlement with provincial authorities, who failed to undertake consultation with First Nations before attempting to transfer land ownership to the District of Hope. Hope is regarded as ancestral land of the Chawathil First Nation.
The Hope Station House is not currently listed in the Canadian Register of Historic Places.
Webster emphatically stated she wants to find ways to preserve the building without costing district taxpayer money, including funding form the $650,000 the district received from the province as part of the lawsuit settlement. The potential use of local taxpayer money to preserve the Station House has been a point of concern for many residents for as long as the preservation movement has been in place.
The $650,000 the district received from the province has been set aside and may be used in the future for a museum, visitor centre or other community asset. Webster stated she would love to see the Station House converted into an information centre.
April Webster, fellow Coalition member with her mother Arlene, said the Coalition has been in talks with Heritage B.C. executive director Paul Gravett to identify possible funding streams in the coming months. The Websters hope to apply for the Heritage Legacy Fund, which opens in March. The Heritage Legacy fund is meant to finance historic conservation and restoration efforts for heritage resources, which would provide up to $25,000.
While April said the foundations are good per a meeting with area architects. The Station House itself, however, needs about $1.5 million worth of work to bring it back up to code. There are a number of cost-saving contingencies in place, including volunteer workers under a contractor and donated materials.
Mayor Peter Robb said the building would have to be off the property by May 31, and reiterated to the Coalition that demolition is part of the agreement with the province.
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“That’s how I understand it. That’s how we signed it,” Robb added. “We have a legal and binding agreement with the province, as far as I’m concerned with the province and I’m not going to alter that unless I understand something otherwise from the province.”
CAO John Fortoloczky said neither the district nor province has any interest in extending the license to occupy the land beyond the end of May. However, district director of operations Kevin Dicken said there is an opportunity for a stay as the district has not entered into a demolition contract as of yet.
While there was no guarantee the province is going to negotiate, a few council members seemed interested in possibly exploring other options.
Webster said that she did not want the district to go back on the agreement with the province except the demolition, stating they would go about their research and fundraising independently. All the Coalition is looking for is more time, she added.
“Keep the money, keep the agreement, but support us in our efforts to do something with that building, because once it’s gone, it’s gone.” she said.
Dicken said the tentative demolition deadline is April 9.
The Coalition, which consists of 13 members, received at least 34 letters from concerned individuals, organizations and groups, all of which had been hand-delivered to District Hall.
See the full coverage of Monday night’s meeting in an upcoming edition of the Standard.
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