Barry Hotel demolition welcomed by many people; not solution to all problems

Bye Bye Barry, This a little sad but. this the best solution. In my opinion.

Sign of the times on 20th Street

Barry Hotel demolition welcomed by many people; not solution to all problems

By Lori CoolicanDecember 5, 2008


Workers from Silverado Demolition remove straps from the Barry Hotel roof sign after a crane lowered the sign to the ground Thursday morning as part of the building's demolitionPhotograph by : Gord Waldner, The StarPhoenixMost people didn't notice when a piece of Saskatoon's past disappeared from the skyline Thursday morning.

Hardly anyone stood in the chilly wind to watch demolition crews take down the rooftop sign from the once-grand, now-notorious Barry Hotel on 20th Street.

People who work at the handful of store-front shops and service agencies still doing business in the immediate vicinity say the closure of the old hotel's bar and cut-rate apartments has made little difference to the character of the area.

"Life on 20th Street is much the same," said John Thelander, business manager of Building a Nation Family Healing Centre, located just a few doors east. "The alleys still have lots of traffic."

Thelander admitted feeling some nostalgia as the rotating sign disappeared from the top of the three-storey hotel, recalling the days when his parents lived in Riversdale decades ago and the hotel's reputation was a positive one.

But Building a Nation provides outreach services for poverty-stricken people, many of them struggling with alcohol and drug abuse, and in recent years many of its clients have lived at the Barry or hung out there.

"We got a lot of the damage . . . so it's not a bad thing to lose," Thelander said. "We see the walking wounded."

The hotel's demise didn't magically solve the problems plaguing its former customers. Many of them have simply adopted another bar farther to the west and they still use 20th Street as their pedestrian route into the downtown, Thelander noted.

"We want to be part of the solution, and we're still here."

Across the street from the Barry, staff at Boomtown Outfitters are preparing for the outdoor sports equipment store's permanent closure early in the new year.

Manager Lee Bolger predicted the hotel site will stand as an empty parking lot for about five years after the demolition is complete. He would rather see the existing structure redeveloped as quality affordable housing instead of torn down and replaced with new condominiums and retail space, he said.

"Maybe it's worth it financially (to build condos), I guess, but without consulting the community it's a different story."

City planners, developers and real estate investors have built a lot of hype about revitalizing the area, but on the ground things look far less rosy, Bolger said, noting several other businesses in the two-block area around the Barry have closed their doors recently.

lcoolican@sp.canwest.com

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