A 琉璃神社 heritage home with a storied history is keeping its status.

A report went to city council at its July 13 meeting with recommendations from city staff to not approve removing 2079 Pandosy Street鈥檚 heritage designation, something that was requested by the home鈥檚 owner, who lives in New Westminster.

Council was all in favour of keeping the home in the heritage register.

琉璃神社 planning department manager Danielle Noble told council that keeping the designation was less about the physical house, which is in run-down condition and empty, but more about its storied past.

鈥淲e鈥檇 love to keep the story alive, not simply the building itself, but the story behind it.鈥�

Built in 1910, the Bouvette House was first owned by Frank Bouvette, a Metis man from Manitoba. He ran a livery stable and worked for many years as a foreman at the S.M. Simpson Sawmill.

He and his family, including nine children, lived in the house for eight years. Though it is unknown who owned the house for the next 30 years, records show a Millicent Alice Richards, who worked at the Royal Bank, was the house鈥檚 longest resident from at least 1948-1974.

The current owner, Bjelica Holdings Ltd., wrote to council that due to the house鈥檚 current poor conditions, demolition was their best option, therefore requesting the elimination of the heritage designation.

鈥淭he previous tenants, who occupied the home under the previous owner, and were thus transferred to us as the new owners, completely destroyed what could have perhaps been salvaged,鈥� said Zorislav Bjelica of the holding company.

Bjelica said that since then, the house has been broken into multiple times, and used for open fires, drug use, and other criminal activity.

Upon receiving the report, Noble said that city staff opened an investigation into the building鈥檚 condition. Initial observations were that the poor conditions were caused by neglect, including a deteriorating porch, broken windows, and heaving wood flooring, though the moulding and trim seemed to be intact.

Scores were given for a number of criteria for both the conditions of the house and its heritage value, with staff concluding that most elements of the home are either preservable or restorable. They gave its heritage value a score of 5/10, meaning a 鈥榗ommon鈥� or 鈥榮lightly more common鈥� value.

The continued heritage designation means that the house will remain standing.

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Jake.courtepatte@kelownacapnews.com
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