I don't know whether to file this here or if there's another thread for the laughably absurd.
Long story in a not-so nutshell: The fate of Third Avenue United Church in Saskatoon (
streetview), an absolutely beloved building in the city, has been in limbo for the past few years after it was put it up for sale in the face of a dwindling congregation. Against the congregation's wishes, church governance sold it to a (crackpot) developer instead of a community group who wanted to turn it into a concert venue (the acoustics are sublime and there's no mid-sized venue like it in town between small live music joints and our large auditorium).
So they sold it to this crackpot, John Orr, with the *hope and prayer* that he'd go slap a heritage designation on it. Not so fast, he said, I've got plans first. Then he went bankrupt, and ownership of the church fell to 2 local realtors who'd been offered the property as collateral in a prior deal with Orr. City Council is watching and says, this sh*t is out of hand, let's move ahead with heritage designation. So Council moved to designate the property unilaterally - a first for them.
Who objects at the public hearing? John Orr, who's now contesting ownership in court and wants to get the church back and do this thing. Because he objects, rules require a provincial review board to be convened and make a recommendation to City Council. They finally recommend unequivocally: designate this thing already!
I say "finally" because it took forever for the province to get their act together and hold a hearing. In the interim the 2 realtor owners had the property up for sale and were getting antsy about extracting their investment from it. Rumours get out that they're trying to hire a demolition company to knock the thing down in the middle of the night, prompting the City to seek a court order that says: No touchy!
So now the matter is finally headed back to Council for a final decision, with a supportive report from the provincial board. John Orr, still hoping he can get the property back, is complaining loudly and has released to the public the renderings of what he had planned to do:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/bid-to-build-skyscraper-avenue-church-big-blow-1.4260771
Absolutely laughable! And a disgusting offence to a fine structure.
From the above article, Orr claims that designation will "condemn the church to become a derelict building" and that no banks will lend him money for construction of his tower if the church is protected. Hah! What bank on earth would lend him money regardless?!
Anyway, it sounds like this story - with all its ugliness - may end on a happy note yet. One of the current owners is quoted saying a local group is interested in purchasing and is fine with designation (hopefully it's that concert venue group). I'll end with an image of the lovely interior:
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