Tank: U of S seminary demolition another loss for heritage in Saskatoon

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If you thought the Lutheran Theological Seminary was somehow going to survive the debate about its future, you need to acquire a better sense of Saskatoon history.

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Heritage in Saskatoon almost always loses. Betting against heritage would almost always be the safest wager, but who would ever place money on heritage advocates to make a bet worthwhile?

So nobody should be surprised that the University of Saskatchewan’s board of governors announced last week the seminary would join so many fallen historical treasures in Saskatoon as a pile of architecturally significant rubble.

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And Saskatoon’s long legacy of shortsightedness continues.

The seminary’s death sentence comes a little more than 10 years after an excavator started clawing down the 103-year-old Farnam Block on Broadway Avenue while spectators watched, some shedding tears.

We’ve heard this story before — everyone values these buildings and recognizes their architectural and historical significance, but they’ve deteriorated and can no longer be rescued at a reasonable price.

The Saskatoon Heritage Society, a non-profit charity dedicated to preserving historic buildings, lamented the failure of the campaign to save the Farnam Block in 2015 and vowed to start future efforts long before demolition is ordered.

Yet the pending demise of the seminary appears to be another tale of the heroes arriving too late to save the threatened structure.

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But the difference between the seminary and other lost heritage treasures like the Farnam Block and the downtown Capitol Theatre (demolished in 1979) is that they were privately owned, and their owners had no requirement to preserve them other than pressure from public opinion.

The Capitol Theatre demolition began while Saskatoon city council was debating measures to save the venue, which opened 50 years earlier. Artifacts from the theatre are still scattered around Saskatoon. Ancient civilizations did a better job of preserving heritage.

The seminary buildings, however, are owned by the Lutheran Theological Seminary and are located on the university’s campus. Churches and universities are expected to act in the public interest and champion societal values, not just dollar value.

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The U of S now says an independent architectural consulting firm estimates restoring one of the buildings would cost $55 million to $60 million, but that’s more than double the university’s original estimate of $26 million.

That new estimate seems extremely high for a 57-year-old building that has been unoccupied for only five years and raises questions about how it became so dilapidated. The owner of any property bears responsibility for its condition and when a building is considered a heritage gem, that obligation is magnified.

And, unlike most organizations in Saskatoon, the university works with a billion-dollar budget, which included $114.5 million in capital spending in 2022-23. The U of S surely lacks unlimited resources, but it boasts more than most.

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A news release says campus security responded to 160 calls to the property in 2024, so safety and security issues seem legitimate.

The university’s board of governors decided last fall that the buildings were beyond repair, but most people only found out about the looming demolition when heritage advocates called attention to it.

The U of S paused the wrecking ball to allow groups to propose plans to save the structures. The board rejected the five expressions of interest received, deeming them unviable financially.

But the group trying to save the buildings has asked the university’s board of governors to reverse that decision and continue to work with them. The heritage group thought the expressions of interest represented a “preliminary phase,” according to a letter to the board shared online.

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Further, the Canadian national committee of the International Council on Monuments and Sites also appealed to the U of S board of governors to consider carefully other options before demolition.

The committee called the seminary an “extraordinary landmark in Saskatchewan and Canada as a whole,” praised its modernist architecture and noted the historical significance of its designer, renowned Saskatoon architect John Holliday-Scott.

But saving the seminary represents an even tougher fight for heritage advocates, as it’s hindered by a far lower profile than other cherished buildings that were demolished.

Most would struggle to find it on a map, making the battle to rescue the riverside treasure a decidedly uphill one. Maybe prayer will work.

Phil Tank is the digital opinion editor at the Saskatoon StarPhoenix.

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