By Nigel Maxwell

University campus creates new hope for owners of historic downtown building

Jun 18, 2018 | 5:00 PM

The owners of one of downtown Prince Albert’s oldest buildings have high hopes to see it opened to the public again as a tourist attraction, art gallery, or possibly even a dorm for students.

Raymond and Loretta Bandet own the property in the 100-block of 12th St. W. which was once a library and was also a men’s club at the turn of the century. The building has sat idle for over two decades while the owners waited for the downtown area to boom. Loretta said she was quite excited when she heard the University of Saskatchewan’s intention to create a new campus downtown in the nearby Forestry Centre building.

“This is our timing,” she said. “This is exactly what we were waiting for.”

The Bandets said they bought the building from Kris Eggum and Peter Abrametz Sr., who had planned to use the building as a law office but opted to look elsewhere after seeing the building’s structural integrity. When Raymond heard the city planned to demolish the building, he said he jumped at the opportunity and spent the next five years replacing the roof and bringing the building up to code.

On Saturday, Loretta was at the downtown street fair passing out surveys asking passers-by what they thought should be done with the building. For the most part, she said the feedback was very positive.

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“I heard from a lot of people that were in the building when it was a library and remember the creaky floors and remember going to the building, and their mom and dad would bring them there,” she said.

Loretta said the ideas she heard included a bookstore, an art gallery, and even a yoga studio. She said she plans to conduct another survey in the coming weeks, as she has not been able to talk to local business owners and she would like their input as well.

The couple said criminal activity in the area has been an obstacle in attracting new tenants and re-opening, but Loretta said she thinks the university campus will lead to better security and more positivity downtown.

Both Raymond and Loretta said in order for their vision to come alive they would need to find investors, as a lot of their retirement money has already been eaten up bringing the former library up to code and keeping the bills paid.

“We have hope, we have vision, and we have faith in Prince Albert,” she said.

nigel.maxwell@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell