Councillors wonder why the site was not secure or the building was not renovated earlier

Built in 1904, the Enoch Sales House was one of the last remaining pieces of old Victoria Park

CALGARY (660 NEWS) — After a fire destroyed one of Calgary’s oldest buildings over the weekend, city councillors are wondering how such a historic home was left in disrepair.

“Why were we unable to secure this asset?” asked Ward 8 Councillor Evan Wooley on Monday morning, after fire destroyed the Enoch Sales House on Saturday.

Wooley added that there are questions about previous plans to save the building, which would have cost between two and three million dollars.

Calgary Municipal Land Corporation President Michael Brown rose to answer these questions, with his voice noticeable cracking with emotion at times.

“Personally, my biggest regret is we weren’t able to figure it out. I do regret that, greatly personally,” he said.

Brown said the CMLC had explored options to upgrade Enoch House and held discussions with the owner of the land where it sat.

READ MORE: Calgary loses historic house to blaze

He detailed the ways it could have been refurbished, including building a replica at a cost of around $1.6 million or a full renovation costing $3 million.

However, there was a desire among shareholders to reduce that cost, which put the project on hold several years ago.

Additionally, the land is owned privately, and the house could have been preserved by those owners at an earlier date.

As time wore on, the fear became greater.

“Where I regret is that we did run out of time. In fairness to Councillor Wooley, he’s always articulated to me that his greatest fear is that the building would burn down — and I would say that was probably one of the fears I had as well,” Brown said.

CMLC shares in the concerns expressed by the community today with the fire at the Enoch Sales House and extend our thanks to Calgary Fire Department helping onsite. Full statement attached. pic.twitter.com/knx07nSH9Z — CMLC (@CalgaryMLC) February 2, 2019

There were weekly walk-arounds at the site to determine any opening that needed to be closed or identify other issues, including picking up used needles.

On Thursday, only two days before the fire, Brown said there were no openings on the house, but there was still a new one before the fire which allowed someone to enter.

“When the individual came in, it looks as though from the fire department’s perspective, as they actually lit a fire to stay warm on the main floor.”

The building could also not be saved during the fire because pieces needed to be torn away, instead of risking firefighter safety by having them enter.

At the end of the day, the loss is great.

READ MORE: Historian reacts to loss of Enoch House

“I do see it as a significant loss to opportunity that we weren’t able to follow through. A good segment of our community would have wanted to see that saved,” said Brown.

At the end of the discussion, Wooley questioned why Calgary is unable to preserve historical locations, even though the city’s history is not too long.

“We have lost more buildings in this city and frankly it’s totally avoidable and really, really, embarrassing when these things keep on popping up — and they will continue to pop up unless we make a decision as a council to allow other to do that for us. Because it doesn’t seem like we have proven ourselves very capable of doing it ourselves.”