Council repeals historical designations to former buildings

Two former buildings in Lethbridge have officially had their historic designations removed.

On Tuesday, Lethbridge City Council formally passed Bylaw 6451 and Bylaw 6452 – repealing the previous Municipal Historic Resource (MHR) designations to the former Bow On Tong and Manie Opera Society buildings.

A fire at the Bow On Tong in January 2023 resulted in severe damage to that building and necessitated its immediate demolition. As a result of the associated damage to the Manie Opera Society building and the prohibitive cost to stabilize the building, it was later demolished in May 2024.

“These demolitions resulted in the complete loss of the heritage values and character-defining elements of both historic resources, so there is no benefit to leaving the MHR designations in place,” says Ross Kilgour, Senior Community Planner. “For the sake of operational efficiency, we elected to wait until the Manie Opera Society building was demolished before bringing bylaws to repeal both designations simultaneously.”

The Historic Places Advisory Committee (HPAC), who advise Council on heritage matters, provided a letter of support for repealing the designations.

On February 3, 2014, City Council passed Bylaws 5855 and 5856 which designated the Bow On Tong Building and the Manie Opera Society Building, respectively, as MHRs. The same month, the Province designated both properties as Provincial Historic Resources (PHRs). The Province granted permission for both demolitions, while the Province’s Historical Resources Act provides for a municipality to repeal an MHR designation by passing a repealing bylaw.

More information on the City’s Historic Building Preservation and Heritage Management, as well as an interactive map, can be viewed here.