Home destroyed by arson to be demolished

The owner of the house on 101st Street in North Battleford will have his property demolished.

The house, which caught fire mid-June and was deemed arson, was found in disrepair by the director of protective services and issued an order to demolish. During a city council meeting last month, the owner requested an extension for the order to remedy/demolish. This was following a conversation with his insurance company after he was told that while the house should be gutted, the structure itself was sound.

Since that time, he has since made the decision to withdraw his appeal after finding “this process to be quite arduous and frustrating” as the rebuilding timelines were “impossible” due to contractor availability, he wrote in a letter to the city.

Another reason behind their choice was due to the cost to rebuild. According to the estimates, it would be over $120,000 and the owners felt it didn’t make sense as the “resale value of the property would be half that in North Battleford.”