Rover Hut in Red Deer (rdnewsNOW/Alessia Proietti)

By Alessia Proietti

Too cost-prohibitive to restore

Red Deer’s Rover Hut confirmed to be demolished in coming months

Mar 28, 2023 | 1:26 PM

The demolition of Red Deer’s historical Rover Hut has been confirmed.

Wade Martens, Land Coordinator for the City, said there is no demolition date set yet as it is contingent on the construction timeline for the expansion of the Central Alberta Women’s Emergency Shelter (CAWES). He says he estimates construction activity could take place in the next two to six months.

In June 2020, city council approved rezoning land it occupied for future expansion of CAWES from a 40 bed facility with 16 small rooms, to 48 shelter beds between 24 rooms, in addition to 12 apartments for transitional housing on the second floor.

While CAWES is located on the corner of 47 Ave and 53 St, the Rover Cabin also stands on a portion of the rezoned land along 47 Avenue.

The cabin was built in 1937 and was used by the local Boy Scouts for 70 years before being used for Christmas tree sales in the early 2000s.

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While the City initially did not anticipate the expansion would affect the Hut, they later confirmed it would need to be relocated from the land. They put out a call to the public in 2021 for anyone interested in taking over the property and its relocation costs.

Martens says while various groups came forward, the structure was later deemed too ‘cost-prohibitive’ to restore due to natural age of the logs and a fire on November 6, 2007.

RCMP confirmed that the fire occurred at around 2:30 p.m., originating in an attached shed and spreading to the exterior of the cabin’s east side and roof structure. They say an RCMP member identified the presence of tracks leading from a nearby walking trail and up to the cabin through an opening in the chain link fence. As there was also a lack of gas and power to the building. Investigators determined a high probability that the cause was arson but no arrests were made.

Martens says he does not know why the property was not up-kept since.

As a commemoration, Martens confirmed that the CAWES will be preserving a plaque above the fireplace inside the Rover Hut and place interpretive signage on location describing the hut’s history.

City council approved on March 20, 2023, the closure and rezoning of a city lane at the intersection of 47 Ave and 53 St to facilitate the CAWES expansion project.

READ: City lane closed and rezoned for expansion of Central Alberta Women’s Emergency Shelter

rdnewsNOW reached out to CAWES for an update on the plans but did not hear back in time for publishing.