The former Northland Pioneer Lodge building was purchased by the City of Meadow Lake for $1. (file photo/meadowlakeNOW Staff)

By Angela Brown

Future redevelopment

City of Meadow Lake purchases old Northland Pioneer Lodge building

Feb 17, 2023 | 4:40 PM

The City of Meadow Lake purchased the former Northland Pioneer Lodge long-term care home building, which was replaced by the new NorthWest Community Lodge last year.

The old building on Third Street West was originally built in 1955, with additions made in the 1960s and 1980s.

The city agreed to purchase the former building from the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) for $1 and will take possession March 31. Then, it will send out a Request for Proposal for any groups or parties potentially interested in purchasing the building from the city, to redevelop or repurpose it in the future.

“We were trying to buy it. We just had to wait for confirmation, just to make sure all the legal [details] were taken care of,” Meadow Lake Mayor Merlin Seymour said.

He noted the city decided to purchase the site because when the new lodge was built, a budgetary line in the document indicated the Northland Pioneer Lodge building would be demolished after the new one opened.

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The estimated $770,000 cost to demolish the old building would have to be paid by the municipality.

“We thought, why would we tear it down if there is an opportunity to make it into something different, to repurpose it,” Seymour said. “That’s why we started the process of buying the property.”

The city will now look for another group to purchase the building and repurpose it. Seymour is hopeful someone will be interested in the project.

“I am confident we will come up with something,” he said. “There have been people who have shown interest in the past. [Depending on] what they come up with, we can base our decision on that.”

Potentially, the building could be repurposed for any number of uses, whether that’s a daycare, or even for what’s known as an enriched housing project that offers some supportive services.

“The new lodge that was built does not have enriched housing,” Seymour said. “It’s only for level-four or level-five care. So, there is a need for that for people who [can] live on their own but might need a little bit of extra help, for cooking meals or with home care. ”

The building might also adapt well for use as a site for office space.

“It all depends on what the people come up with,” Seymour said.

Next, city administration will complete the paperwork to issue the Request for Proposals for the project.

As part of the city’s purchase from the SHA, it also assumed ownership of the Meadow Lake Senior Citizens Activity Centre building, located next to the old lodge.

The city will now be responsible for the existing lease agreement with the Pensioners and Senior Citizens Organization Meadow Lake #31 for the activity centre. Seymour said the land will be subdivided, so the seniors centre will not be impacted by the future sale and redevelopment of the old Northland Pioneer Lodge building.

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Angela.Brown@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @meadowlakenow