Crews moved in Monday to begin tearing down a shuttered golf course clubhouse gutted by fire last fall.
Crews moved in Monday to begin tearing down a shuttered golf course clubhouse gutted by fire last fall.
The blaze at River Road golf course in November caused more than $1 million in damage and “extensive structural damage,” making demolition the only viable option, city officials said.
“After a full assessment of the nature of the damage, it’s been determined that repair is not an option because the damage is too extensive to warrant the costs,” a city spokesperson said by email Monday.
Michael Belanger, a city worker at the time, was charged the week after the fire with arson causing property damage. He was initially suspended with pay from his job as a fleet supervisor. He no longer works for city hall, though the nature of his departure is unclear. City hall would not say whether Belanger retired, quit or was fired.
His case remains before the courts.
A winter homeless shelter for Indigenous people was planned for the former golf course and its clubhouse before the fire. It was moved to the grounds of Parkwood Hospital after the operating agency, Atlohsa Family Healing Services, said it no longer felt safe running the shelter at the former golf course given the fire.
City council voted in February 2021 to close River Road golf course after city staff said its losses could threaten the other two city-owned courses, with a collective $6 million in capital repairs looming.
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