Saskatoon’s historic bus barns face demolition
CBC
The dream of those who wanted to breathe new life into Saskatoon’s bus barns in Caswell Hill is expected to come tumbling down next year.
City hall confirmed Thursday that the structures, which housed city buses until 2017, are too old and updating them to meet current safety standards would be too expensive.
The city declined to answer questions about when the demolition will take place and how much it will cost. A proposal to save $75,100 next year by disconnecting power and utilities at the site was approved by council last month at budget talks.
A city report accompanying that proposal says demolition is “projected” in April.
“Given these findings, it was determined there is no short-term return on investment for renovation or continued daily occupancy against the existing risks,” a prepared statement from the city says.
“The building is not currently accessible or code compliant, and maintaining operations would require substantial upgrades to meet safety and regulatory standards.”
Another set of former transit buildings, located north of 24th Street between Avenue C and Avenue D, is being redeveloped by a group named Caswell Bus Barns, which purchased the site for $2 million last year. That site includes structures that date back to 1913 and were originally used to store streetcars.
The former bus barns and administration building south of 24th Street is the amalgamated structure scheduled to meet the wrecking ball.
According to the city, it was completed in 1964, with a big expansion and update in 1981. The city’s property tax assessment tool says it's assessed at $4 million and has the “effective age” of a structure built in 1978.
The city plans to sell the land once the structure is demolished.
Saskatoon Transit moved to the civic operations centre located south of the Montgomery Place neighbourhood in 2017. By then, debate over the future of the bus barns was already underway.
A 2010 report on redeveloping south Caswell Hill suggested the buildings south of 24th Street be razed and replaced with a park to make up for a lack of public green space in the neighbourhood.
More than a decade ago, a group of artists objected to that plan and pushed for repurposing the bus barns to house studios. Back then, demolition was estimated to cost $1.5 million and remediating contaminated parts of the site was pegged at $1 million.
Efforts to sell and redevelop the site stalled after the pandemic hit in 2020.
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