Queen's Hotel. (Destination Battleford)

By Jaryn Vecchio

Historic Building

Owners of Battleford’s Queen Hotel wanting to replace building with rental units

Sep 19, 2023 | 2:12 PM

Discussions are happening regarding what should replace the Queen’s Hotel in the Town of Battleford.

The Town’s Council met on Monday where plans were brought forward by the property’s owners who want to build a four-storey building filled with rental units.

They shared the idea after receiving a notice last month to officially tear down the structure or the town would, due to how unsafe it had become.

There was no debate that the hotel would be demolished with the owners, who also run several businesses in the area including the Windsor Hotel, believing this could be an opportunity to help the struggling housing sector.

“All our staff, they simply couldn’t find a place to stay… so we have to keep (people) out of our suites for our staff,” said Jason Kim, whose family owns the Queen’s Hotel.

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They believe they will have more information, including potential investors, by Feb. 1, 2024. If this doesn’t happen, the Kim family will sell the property with a deadline of Sept 7, 2024.

If both plans fail, they will hire their own contractor to demolish the property.

“Why spend taxpayers’ money, hundreds of thousands of dollars… we have the power to do it ourselves,” Kim said.

They did ask that they be given until Sept. 5, 2025, to complete the demolition which wasn’t ideal for Mayor Ames Leslie.

He explained the lack of care the property has received of late can’t continue to happen for nearly two more years.

“We’ve had countless complaints, the fire department has had complaints, the RCMP have brought forward complaints, public safety officers have brought forward complaints. There’s glass on the sidewalks on a daily basis that doesn’t get cleaned up, there’s people coming and going in the building at all times of the night,” he said.

He did mention the town would like to see some effort from the owners to better maintain the property before they officially toss out its plan to demolish the structure.

At this time, no decision has been made on the future of the property with both sides agreeing to continue talks.

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Jaryn.Vecchio@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @princealbertnow