USask Board to move ahead with demolition of unused buildings posing safety and security risks

The Board has made this decision based on several factors, including the significant risk to public safety posed by these vacant buildings, the prohibitive cost to repair these structures, and a lack of purpose for them that would align with the university’s teaching and research mission. 

While the Board appreciates the historical significance of the Lutheran Theological Seminary building, this does not outweigh the very real and immediate risk to public safety posed by these vacant and deteriorating buildings, nor does it supersede the Board’s fiduciary responsibility. 

Since 1967, the 114 Seminary Crescent property has been owned by the Lutheran Theological Seminary (LTS) but has been unoccupied for the past five years. USask supported LTS in trying to identify both buyers and tenants for the facility but none were found, and the LTS supports the demolition. 

The Board determined last fall that the buildings required demolition given their state of disrepair and the critical safety and security risks highlighted by the City of Saskatoon fire department, including two internal fires and one external fire, broken windows, drug paraphernalia, and evidence of people sleeping in the LTS building. In 2024, USask Protective Services responded to more than160 security calls to this site. The 113 building is unusable without significant investment due to flooding and a catastrophic failure of the building’s electrical transformer.     

Due to community feedback, in December of 2024 the Board paused its call for proposals for demolition in order to formally seek Expressions of Interest (EOI) to fund the restoration of the buildings for future uses aligned with the university’s teaching and research mission.          

The Board, USask management, and a third-party consulting firm reviewed the five EOIs received related to 114 Seminary Crescent and concluded that none were financially viable. Architectural consulting firm Brook McIlroy estimates that between $55 million and $60 million would be required to restore 114 Seminary Crescent to feasible use.     

Additionally, on April 2, the university received orders from the City of Saskatoon fire department for both properties. For 114 Seminary Crescent, a Structural Engineer’s Assessment is required before a repair order can be issued. A previously sourced independent structural engineering assessment report confirms the major extent of renovations and repairs required for 114 Seminary Crescent.  

The fire department’s order for 113 Seminary Crescent requires the building to be repaired and operational by May of this year. Since there are no viable financial alternatives, the Board has determined demolition is the only practical option.    

A consideration for the university has been the fact that the LTS buildings were the work of highly regarded Saskatoon architect John Holliday-Scott, who also designed the USask Law/Commerce Building (opened in 1967) and the USask Dentistry Building (1979).  While the LTS property was considered an affiliated heritage asset in the university’s own internal heritage register, the property does not have any heritage status that is recognized federally, provincially, or municipally.     

Honouring the architectural heritage of our campus is a responsibility we take seriously. As part of our next steps, we will consider ways in which the 60-year-old Holliday-Scott LTS buildings can be commemorated.      

Demolition of the Seminary Crescent buildings is consistent with the university’s Core Campus Master Plan which identifies the area as “the River Valley precinct” — best suited not for development but for recreational and open spaces for the university community and the broader public. 

As well, the riverbank area on which these buildings currently sit is designated to be part of a proposed Saskatoon national “urban park” — one of up to six that Parks Canada committed to create in the 2021 federal budget.