Prior to the latest Terrace City Council meeting, a public hearing was held to get the opinions of local residents on the plan to demolish the Kin Hut building near the Heritage Park Museum.
The demolition plan was confirmed several months ago and Terrace Mayor Sean Bujtas reminded everyone why the City is going through with this;
“The Kin Hut has been abandoned for years and it’s in disarray. It’s foundation is collapsing and when we had it inspected, it was deemed a hazard and a danger to the public. And we don’t have the finances to bring this building back up to speed. So it was deemed to demolish the building and make sure that it’s not a liability to the community.”
But at the hearing, several people voiced their opposition to the plan with one of the consistently cited reasons for residents wanting to save the building being the history behind it, something that the Heritage Park Museum’s Curator, Quinn Beblow, had more insight on;
“When the war broke out, the Canadian military was really afraid of an invasion from the northwest coast. So they brought in 3,000 soldiers and another 3,000 construction workers to this town, which was around 400 people. And they built a lot of infrastructure because they had 6,000 new residents. The Kin Hut was the mess hall of the hospital complex. It’s not only the last remaining building of the military hospital complex, but it’s also the only remaining mess hall from World War Two in Terrace.”
But this contingent didn’t pop up out of nowhere, as proven by local resident Mary Ann Dilley, who posted an open letter protesting the demolition a couple of months ago;
“I asked why the city was determined to demolish one of the very few buildings left over from the war. It’s a heritage building as far as I’m concerned and I think it’s a shame to have it torn down.”
Skeena Valley Men’s Shed Society President Bradley Pretty also came forward at the meeting to offer a tangible solution to potentially save the building;
“We’re going to save you $110,000, you won’t have to tear down that building. Underneath that skin is a really beautiful building and it deserves to be saved. so this is what happens when it gets saved, the men’s shed has a meeting space, the men’s shed has a workshop, a historical building is restored to it’s former glory. And it’s our history. It may not be the history that you want, but it’s our history.”
The Skeena Men’s Shed would be responsible for maintaining the building and they’ve suggested the likes of the Parks Canada National Cost Sharing Program and Heritage Places and Canada Heritage’s Grants and Tax Incentives as a couple of government programs that could be apply to and potentially get the funds they need from.
But whether or not the demolition plan’s opposition can actually save the building remains to be seen.