A Greenwood landmark is up for grabs.
City council voted Monday night to sell the historic West Kootenay Power substation, saying it has fallen into disrepair. The prominent brick building on Highway 3 will be listed for $229,000.
City manager Dean Trumbley said in an interview it wasn’t a happy decision, nor was it made easily, but council feels it may be the building’s only hope. He said current and past councils have tried to partner with non-profit groups to restore the building, but it has proved too great a challenge.
The city also owns other key heritage buildings including city hall (originally a courthouse), the fire hall, and the McArthur Centre. Trumbley said with an increased demand on other infrastructure, council decided they don’t have the resources or ability to do anything with the substation, leaving them with two options: let the building continue to deteriorate or let it pass into private hands.
“So it was determined by mayor and council that the best option to potentially save the building and restore it would be to sell it publicly,” Trumbley said. “Hopefully somebody that purchases it will appreciate the history of the building and be able to restore it for commercial or residential purposes. It’s just the only way we can see to save the building.”
Trumbley said they think the building is still in good enough shape that a developer could do something with it, but they fear if it is left much longer, it could be lost. He said the building, which has not been publicly accessible, is “pretty much gutted.” Still, he feels it is a “beautiful building,” worthy of restoration.
In a subsequent Facebook post, Trumbley explained that now that council has agreed to sell the building, the city will advertise its intent and allow for written submissions from the public asking questions or raising concerns. A special meeting is planned Oct. 6 to provide a report on the feedback, which the public can attend to provide any further comments.
A bylaw will also be presented at that time for three readings. Fourth and final reading would follow on Oct. 14, and, assuming that it passes, the property would be listed for sale the following day.
Christopher Stevenson, a former Greenwood councillor who runs the Boundary Heritage Facebook page, called the decision to sell the building “very disappointing” and an example of the province downloading responsibilities for heritage onto local governments.
Stevenson said the substation is “extremely problematic” in its interior layout with “strange floor heights and very small spaces in the office area, and a narrow tall room in the switchgear area.”
“Industrial heritage can be extremely challenging — its value often lies in its historic significance alone, and its uses are often best suited to tourism and historic interpretation and display,” Stevenson wrote. “When public owners abandon it, its future is put into serious jeopardy.”
The substation, which is one of the first heritage buildings viewed when entering Greenwood from the south, was built in 1905-06 and stopped being used for its original purpose sometime in the mid-1970s. West Kootenay Power donated it to Greenwood in 1997 as a gift for the city’s centennial.
In a 2004 Grand Forks Gazette story, former mayor Arno Hennig explained that the city obtained grants to turn the building into a place where people could learn about the history of power generation. As part of that project, eight solar panels and a windmill were installed on the roof, but the energy they collected was not used. He was dismayed that the project had stalled.
The substation is the lone survivor of a style of building that also existed in Grand Forks and Phoenix. It has an assessed value of $153,900.
