Former Pine Lodge building dodges demolition

Indian Head, Sask. -

Two years after a fire forced Pine Lodge Treatment centre to close operations in Indian Head, the 102-year-old building now has new owners.

“It is just an incredible building with the history that's there and we're really excited to be a part of continuing on that history,” said Sheralee Stelter, one of the new owners.

Stelter said she received a call from her brother Rod Vance last week, who said the building was going to be demolished.

“It would have been a real shame to lose this building because everybody in the community really looks at this as a primary landmark,” she said.

For Stetler and Vance, the purchase is personal.

They said they've had friends and family go through the Pine Lodge Treatment program that had run out of Indian Head until a fire on Christmas Eve in 2020.

“Pine Lodge has been a huge asset to this community and we were really sad to hear it go,” said Vance. “They were a great bunch, there was a never an issue with them and they helped a lot of people.”

According to Vance, aside from smoke damage, the building is in good shape.

As for the future of the building, both Stelter and Vance say they are keeping their options open, adding the main priority is to rehabilitate the structure.

The building has historical significance to the town of Indian Head. It was built in 1919 as the Forest Nursery Station needed an administration building. A second floor was added in 1932.

Between the years of 1983 and 1984, the town property was purchased for an addictions and recovery program. It welcomed its first guests in 1986.

Indian Head resident Ben Friesen has grown up in the town and said the building was known because of its location to the train.

“Right across from the old station park, where the first people came to Indian Head,” said Friesen. “This would have been where they got off at the railway station and walked around the park and this is one of the first buildings they would know from Indian Head.”

The town is known for its heritage buildings and officials are glad that the building is staying put.

It is important to keep that heritage,” said Steven Cole, mayor of Indian Head. “Indian Head is known as a historic town and it's important to keep those buildings and the meaning of our town.”