Historic Buffalo Hotel shuttered, future unknown

Fines totaling more than $19,000 were levied in June, putting a dagger in PHD’s hopes it could continue providing the services it was.

“That process changed our perspective. The clientele living in the Buffalo were a tough clientele to house. Not a lot of people are willing to give them a chance, and we happened to have a building we were willing to take that risk in,” says Seth Schalk, PHD manager.

“There was enough damage in there that two or three people would have to be there every day to fix it. When the fire department showed up, and the fines came, that made it undoable from a business standpoint, but also from a stress point of view.”

Schalk says while Potter’s Hands still has a big heart for serving that segment of the population – which they do in other buildings and through a soup kitchen – it’s not necessarily a bad thing that they’re able to step back from the Buffalo.

“Without support from the City, we felt it wasn’t something we could do any longer,” he says. “We just want to see people live healthy lives, and if we can’t help them do that, we’ll allow the City to take more of a role. We hope they have a plan.”

Upon closure, the Buffalo had about 40 tenants, plus guests, according to Schalk. They were given three months’ notice to vacate, and some found homes in other Potter’s Hands-owned buildings. Some, however, could not be rehoused.”

What happens now is to-be-determined.

PHD is open to selling, though ideas include a new type of housing or commercial.

A sign bearing the words ‘Coffee Shop’ is still attached to the building, though one hasn’t operated there in nearly a decade.

The Buffalo is now boarded up, though more than one break-in has occurred since its closure. Schalk reassures it is accessible to the fire department should the need to gain access arise.

Meantime, Red Deer faces the imminent closure of its emergency shelter. Barring an extension of a State of Local Emergency (SOLE) declared in September, Safe Harbour will close its doors mid-November. A committee is to be struck Nov. 1 to deliberate on the SOLE’s end or extension. If extended, the shelter can remain open.

As someone working closely with the same clientele, and who has a role in the forthcoming Red Deer Dream Centre, Schalk admits he’s significantly worried about the shelter’s closure.

“I’m worried for our properties, but also for the lives of people. If there’s no place for them to go, where are they going to go? We live in Alberta. They’ll find a way into some places, and others will die,” he surmises.

“If the City doesn’t want us to do what we were doing, then I hope they’re willing to do it.”

Ken McMullen, the City’s acting general manager of Development & Protective Services, says there is no interest from the municipality in purchasing the Buffalo.

“The City has always had an interest in it. Currently, the City wants to ensure we revitalize our downtown core and make it an attractive place for not only businesses, but residents,” he says, saying the Buffalo could be a vibrant part of that vision.

“We’d like to see that building stay up and running, be put into use hopefully by another user, and for whatever they deem appropriate.”

It’s in the right spot and it adds value to the downtown, says McMullen.

by Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

Historic Buffalo Hotel shuttered, future unknown

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