Glenora Bed and Breakfast to be demolished this summer
The days are numbered for the historic building that houses the Glenora Bed and Breakfast on 124th Street.
Council gave approval for a developer to demolish the building and erect a 26-storey highrise in it's place. But the developers promise to maintain the look of the original building.
"We've hired a historic consultant to help us with that," said Henry Edgar, vice-president of Edgar Development. "We'll actually be dismantling the building brick by brick and reassembling it."
Edgar said the facade will be restored to what it looked like in 1912, when the building was first constructed.
As for the inside of the building, it will be completely reconstructed to allow the developer to erect a tower of apartment units on top.
Coun. Scott McKeen asked if it would be possible to maintain the inside of the original building, but Edgar said it's too run down.
"The plumbing systems are in rough shape, the electrical systems are in rough shape, the roof needs to be replaced," he said.
The owner of the Glenora Bistro, Cui Kouch, said he agrees. His business was given an eviction notice and asked to leave by the end of May.
Though he's disappointed he has to relocate his business, Kouch said the building has fallen into disrepair.
"It's just too much work to upgrade," he said. "Might was well just tear it down."
But Coun. Ben Henderson said much more was at stake than the history of one building. He thinks the character of the entire neighbourhood could be in jeopardy if the highrise goes ahead.
He said one tall building could encourage other developers to build similar projects. And if council keeps approving projects on a one-off basis, the neighbourhood could lose the feel that makes it unique.
"You end up down the road and you find out that what originally was special, what was attracting everybody to it, is no longer there," he said.
Every other councillor, including McKeen, approved the demolition.
McKeen said he heard from members of the community who were concerned about the height of the tower as well. But, he said, the city couldn't afford to restore the building as it is now.
"I think this really was the best of both worlds, and no tax-dollar money had to go into it," he said.
Edgar said his company hopes to begin demolition this summer.
