Demolition resumes at former Wascana Park CNIB building
The ongoing demolition of the former CNIB building can be seen here in Wascana Park. (Gareth Dillistone/CTV News Regina)
Demolition resumed at the site of a former Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) building in Wascana Park, as crews work to return the area to parkland.
The site, near the intersection of Broad Street and Broadway Avenue in Wascana Park, was formerly slated to become the location of a new Brandt Industries office building.
Heavy excavation equipment was seen digging concrete, pavement and other construction materials out of the ground.
A spokesperson from the Provincial Capital Commission (PCC), which manages Wascana Park, said the developer for CNIB secured a permit from the city to complete the demolition of its former building.
The PCC went on to state that it anticipates the property will be returned to “usable park space.”
No other information could be given regarding the future of the site, due to an ongoing legal dispute currently before the courts between the provincial government and Brandt Industries.
Brandt previously said it intends to fill the excavation and walk away from the project.
Heavy equipment can be seen here at the site of the former CNIB building in Wascana Park. (Gareth Dillistone/CTV News Regina)
The proposed project began in 2014 and would have included rent free office space for the CNIB as well as other charities on the ground floor.
Due to the immense public backlash of further commercial development in Wascana Park, the government put the project on hold. It was then referred to the provincial auditor for review.
As a result of the stoppage, Brandt is currently suing the provincial government, alleging procedural and political interference.
“I think right now the building project is dead. I mean right now it would be hard for us to build any building with the rules again changing the way they are,” Shaun Semple, the president of Brandt Industries, previously told CTV News in a March interview.
CNIB is now on the hunt for another location to call home. Brandt said it will help CNIB in some other way, after the organization was left without a new space.
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