Crews battle heritage building fire in heart of Regina's downtown

Fire crews in Regina were on the scene of a commercial fire in the heart of Regina’s downtown core on Sunday.

Firefighters responded to the call on the 2100 block of 12th Avenue in the early morning hours.

Visible flames and smoke was seen coming from the roof of the three story building located at 2170 12th Ave – just north of Victoria Park.

Crews were working to extinguish the blaze and complete their searches just before 6 a.m. according to a post on the social media platform X.

Regina fire asked the public to stay clear of the area while crews were at work.

• Download the CTV News app to get breaking news alerts from across Saskatchewan sent to your device

While the flames were extinguished, fire crews were still on the scene more than 12 hours after the start of the blaze.

According to city records, Gordon Block – the building involved in the fire – is a heritage property.

“Well 39 years and 11 months I was here. Kind of sad to see it go really,” Dennis Dukart told CTV News.

“I heard it was going to come down eventually anyway. So I guess we’ll see what happens now.”

At one time, Dukart’s salon, Canadiana Hair Stylists, was housed in Gordon Block along with Novia Café – one of Regina’s oldest restaurant’s which was first established in 1918.

Many heritage properties dot Regina's downtown core.

Right next door to Gordon Block is another heritage property, the Credit Foncier Building.

Notably, located just north of the fire is the Burns-Hanley Building at 1863 Cornwall Street – the original site of St. Mary's, Regina’s first Catholic church.

According to Regina’s historical record, following Louis Riel’s execution in 1885, his body was stored at 1863 Cornwall Street for three weeks before being moved to St. Boniface, Man. for burial.

With files from Wayne Mantyka.