BANFF, ALBERTA – A more than a century old home originally from the former coal mining town of Bankhead is to be demolished.
Following a three-hour meeting and subsequent in-camera deliberations on Thursday (April 21), Banff’s Development Appeal Board (DAB) denied two appeals against demolition of the 112-year-old Kidney residence at 328 Muskrat Street.
The quasi-judicial board ruled that it could find no contravention of the land use bylaw, Canada National Parks Act, Banff National Park management plan or any other relevant legislation regarding the Town of Banff’s issuance of a demolition permit on March 10.
“The development appeal board works within the constraints of a legal framework that includes considerations for both federal and municipal legislation and policy,” said Dak Kerr, chair of DAB.
“Our job is to be dispassionate observers and interpret the respective legislation to arrive at an outcome. This can be challenging when dealing with an emotional issue such as our community’s built heritage; however, that is the reality of our situation.”
Kerr said policy discussions and debates around heritage resources are the purview of council and not a development appeal board.
“With that in mind, the development appeal board recommends council consider a standardized process through the heritage master plan to conserve built heritage, and where that is not possible, document and record heritage assets,” he said.
The Kidney Residence is listed on the municipality’s heritage inventory, but is not legally protected. This large Victorian-style building is one of six larger Bankhead homes originally constructed in 1910 by the Canadian Pacific Railway.
The appeals were launched by Peter Poole’s Bowstrings Heritage Foundation – which has goals to acquire and restore heritage buildings – and long-time resident Geordie Nokes who lives a few doors down on Muskrat Street.
The appeals were centred on heritage preservation as critical to the commemorative integrity of Banff National Park as well as on a belief that there was a lack of adequate environmental and public health safeguards with the demolition.
Poole said the Kidney home is part of the fabric of Banff’s commemorative integrity, which he argued was within the DAB’s purview under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act and under the Banff National Park management plan.
“Unlike a development in Provost, Alberta, or Red Deer, Alberta, this is a national park community and the fabric of our heritage has created commemorative integrity that is bigger than any one building,” said Poole.
“This is one of the paramount heritage buildings we have in Banff. The neighbourhood is important and within the neighbourhood, this is one of the crown jewels.”
Poole also told the DAB – which has two Parks Canada representatives seated at the table – that Parks Canada has an interpretive sign at the former coal mining town of Bankhead, which includes a description of the Kidney House.
He said this shows that the home is “cherished by Parks Canada and considered part of the commemorative integrity of our national park.”
“If I were to go up to the Paint Pots and remove one of the pieces of remnant mining of the ochre there, I would be fined under Parks Canada very reasonably for removing a piece of Parks Canada commemorative integrity,” said Poole.
“The same reasoning can apply, and you have every authority to say in the conditions that this shall not be removed, just as I cannot go into the Paint Pots and remove a piece of our history there, or I cannot go to Bankhead and chip off a part of the old Catholic Church – that would be against the law.”
Nokes referred to the Kidney home as an iconic landmark that “cannot defend itself.”
He pointed to historical events through which this house has survived, including War War 1 from 1914-18, the Great Depression, which started in 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s, the Second World War from 1939-1945 and other significant historical events.
“It survived an arduous trek all the way from Bankhead in 1926 on a 10-km rugged road, escaping demolition,” he said.
Nokes said heritage homes like this make Banff home.
“They connect us not just to our neighbours but to ourselves. Through our memories of these places, these homes also connect us to those who have come before us and those who will come after us,” he said.
“This helps us understand that we ourselves are here for a certain amount of time, that our actions or decisions will echo on for decades as those of previous generations affect our world today.”
The owner of the Kidney residence, Hardy Schmidtke, said he can appreciate the historical value that some people see in the home, noting he has offered the house for free should anyone want to remove it.
“Right from day one, we put it up as donation to whomever would like it, through different channels through the Town, through social media, through word of mouth,” he said.
“People have approached me, inquired, and here it is, here’s the building for free – save it. To date, nobody’s stepped up, and so, unfortunately, that’s the end of the line and we have to continue with development.”
Schmidtke said he has gone through and met all of the Town of Banff’s stringent rules, regulations and bylaws, including any public health and environmental issues.
The DAB, however, did impose an extra condition that written confirmation from Parks Canada be provided indicating that all mitigations from the determination of significance of impacts are met before, during and after demolition.
“I purchased the property with the sole intention to develop multi-family units, understanding the need for housing – it was marketed as an opportunity to do so,” he said.
“It was my intention when I bought it that I was then afforded the right to redevelop. That was our vision and still is the vision.”
Schmidtke believes the property is rundown and needed work put into it 25 years ago.
“In my opinion, it’s dilapidated,” he said. “To restore it to a healthy living environment and to a valuable home… we’ve seen other historic in town that are being considered to be renovated and that’s in the order of $1 million.”
Built around 1910, The Kidney house was once located in the nearby coal mining town of Bankhead at the base of Cascade Mountain and was later moved to Banff. After the mine’s closure in 1922, houses were sold for $50 a room and moved to Banff, Canmore and Calgary.
This three-storey building is one of six larger Bankhead homes originally constructed in 1910 by the Canadian Pacific Railway. It was moved 10 kilometres in 1927 from Bankhead to its current location on a large lot on the corner of Muskrat and Wolf streets.
The residence is named after Maude and Forrest Kidney, the first Banff residents of the home. The Kidneys were community figures who owned several local businesses and ran a bed and breakfast called for a number of years as tourist accommodation.
The Kidney residence is not legally protected but the Banff Heritage Corporation has opposed the demolition of the Kidney home, which is also part of the tourist town’s heritage walking tour.
For the DAB hearing, board member Councillor Ted Christensen declared a conflict of interest because he is also a member of the Banff Heritage Corporation.
DAB member Barbara McNeil recused herself from the hearing, noting she has a bias in this matter because she has a strong interest in heritage matters.
“I don’t feel I could make an objective decision on this particular matter,” she said.
