Feds confirm Kapyong Barracks coming down

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This article was published 19/01/2017 (2653 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA — The demolition of Kapyong Barracks buildings will go ahead because neighbouring residents did not raise concerns about the plan.

“The Department of National Defence is planning to proceed with the demolition of on-site infrastructure at Kapyong Barracks, in order to reduce the dangers associated with its deteriorating state,” wrote a spokesman for the department in an email to the Free Press. “A firm start date for demolition has not yet been established, but the demolition is anticipated to start in 2017 and will continue over several years, in several phases.”

DND sent letters in mid-November to residents who live around the former military base at the corner of Grant Avenue and Kenaston Boulevard, noting it intended to destroy all 41 buildings, internal roadways, surface parking lots and underground utilities including electrical, gas, water and sewer lines starting this year. It was seeking public input as part of the environmental assessment that was required.

The time period for the public to comment ended before Christmas, and the department now will tender the demolition work. There is currently no listing on the government’s Merx website, where all contract opportunities are to be advertised.

The government has not put a price tag on the demolition.

Kapyong was abandoned by the military in 2004 when the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, 2nd Battalion, moved to CFB Shilo. The land was declared surplus and was to be sold by the Canada Lands Company for redevelopment, but the process was halted after a lawsuit from Treaty One First Nations. They claimed the government had failed to properly consult with them about the disposal of the land.

The case dragged through the courts with numerous appeals until the fall of 2015, when the former Conservative government said it would stop appealing the case and begin negotiating with First Nations involved.

The Liberals inherited those negotiations in November 2015. A source told the Free Press there have been meetings, but neither the government nor the First Nations have been willing to discuss the nature of the proceedings in public.

DND has spent an estimated $20 million to maintain the 41 buildings and the barracks site since 2004. That includes property taxes and maintenance such as snow clearing, heating and security.

DND told the Free Press in November it could not plan to raze any of the buildings, many of which are now riddled with mould and unfit for habitation, while the lawsuit was ongoing.

mia.rabson@freepress.mb.ca

Area to be demolished