The verdict is in.
On the recommendation of the Heritage Steering Committee, the Cariboo Regional District Board voted to remove the 150 Mile Courthouse from it’s heritage site registry clearing the way for demolition of the deteriorated structure.
CRD Area F Director Maureen Lebourdais said it’s been in a dilapidated condition for quite some time.
“The intention was to restore it, refurbish it, turn it into a historical site of interest, perhaps for tourism and preserving local heritage. But over time it’s in rough shape, it has deteriorated, it’s a lot of money to get and restore a building like that. It was complicated further when the Highways re-did Highway 97 through the community a few years ago because the Ministry of Transportation was insistent it’s not going to put a Highway access on to that piece of property.”
The CRD said despite community efforts to preserve the courthouse in the past, no viable path to restoration was available for the building.
They noted it also lacks a caretaker, has become a liability, and is on a landlocked parcel with no opportunity to future development.
“Since I’ve been elected there have been calls every year with concerns around fire,” Lebourdais said, “there’s a trailer park that sits right next door, and the 153 Ranch which is behind that, there are concerns around the grass and keeping it cut and the state of that building, so public safety has become the biggest concern.”
There is a 150 Mile Society, a Greenbelt and Heritage Society, and they were the group that initially had some vision to restore or refurbish it some way.
“But I think everyone that has had a look at it acknowledged the risk that’s sitting there, particularly for fire,” Lebourdais said, “and acknowledged there’s just not that kind of funding and money available, there’s an access issue, to do anything more with that building it’s just too far gone.”
Originally constructed in the late 19th century, the 150 Mile Courthouse was a symbol of the community’s historic role as a regional administrative and supply centre.
The Cariboo Regional District will move forward with demolition and the site will remain vacant for the time being and future use of the property has not been determined.
The building will also be removed from the BC Register of Historic Places.
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