BOWDEN — Work on cleaning up the site of the old Bowden Hotel began last week.
The work began Monday, Aug. 14. Equipment was hard at it on Tuesday, scooping up debris for trucks which then hauled it away.
Mahmudul Shojib, project manager of Alberta Infrastructure's properties division, told the Albertan the job, including demolition of the adjacent Mom’s Kitchen property, is expected to take until mid-September to be completed.
That includes taking out the foundation and backfilling the resulting hole in the ground.
A town official saved the old Mom’s Kitchen sign from demolition. There was talk of possibly putting it in the museum.
“They're going to remove that building, because that is a hazardous building now because, like, asbestos and other hazardous materials,” Shojib said.
The Bowden Hotel, a fixture for decades at the corner of Highway 2A and 20th Street, burned to the ground on New Year’s Day 2022.
According to local history buffs, the hotel was originally built in 1904 and burnt down the first time in 1925. It was rebuilt and opened again in 1930. It was abandoned in 2015.
In an earlier email to the Albertan, Benji Smith, currently the press secretary to the Minister of Environment and Protected Areas Rebecca Schulz, confirmed that the province assumed care and control of the property last fall “following the dissolution of its ownership.”
“Treasury Board and Finance owns the property, and Infrastructure manages it on their behalf,” Smith wrote.
Smith said once the reclamation work and other required work at the site is complete, the property will be offered first to the Town of Bowden “at fair market value.”
If the town declines that offer, the province will list it on the open market,” he added.
Previously, the plan had been to begin the cleanup work in June or July and have it completed by the end of summer.
Shojib said one reason there was such a delay is that it took a while to assess the asbestos (a fire retardant later deemed to be cancer-causing) in the property and determining how best to dispose of it.
Another issue was ensuring that the gas was disconnected. Shojib said that occurred on Aug. 11.
Shojib said a hazardous materials consultant was on hand to ensure that all hazardous materials are all dealt with safely.
“They are monitoring the air and everything. It looks good,” he said.
Mayor Robb Stuart was pleased to see the work begin but pointed out it took a long time for that to happen.
Stuart said not only did it take a few months for the work to get going, but town officials tried to get the hotel cleaned up a few years ago, before the abandoned facility burned down.
"It's finally happened, I guess," he said. "And once it's done, it should help our outlook in the town. That whole area will be pretty clean."
Stuart was asked if there's any interest by town officials in making the area a park if they do decide to accept the province's offer for the land.
"We’ve got quite a few green areas in town already, so it's first I've ever heard of it," he said.
- With files from Johnnie Bachusky.
