Council declares Cook Residence a heritage property, Fougere skeptical of handgun ban

Regina city council voted on Monday night to add the Cook Residence to the city’s list of heritage properties, protecting the house from demolition or changes that would drastically alter its character.

The house was built in 1929 and is located at the corner of Albert Street and Hill Avenue. Its Tudor-revival style is considered architecturally significant.

“This has been evaluated by several architects to talk about the heritage characteristics and it’s been accepted by council, and by most people there is heritage value. I really don’t think that is being disputed here,” Mayor Michael Fougere said during The Greg Morgan Morning Show on Tuesday.

As well, the Cook Residence was once inhabited by Robert Cook, a local entrepreneur who founded the Regina Brewing Company.

However, the house needs repairs. Its owner, Carmen Lien, has argued that they would cost $2.5 million.

Lien bought the house for $625,000 and applied for a demolition permit.

Heading into Monday’s meeting, administration recommended that Lien and the city commission a third-party invasive inspection that would settle the cost.

Council rejected it and opted to designate the Cook Residence as a heritage property.

Fougere said before Lien bought the house, it was already on the city’s heritage holding bylaw, meaning it was on a list of properties that could receive heritage designation in the future.

“He knew that and talked about that several times (Monday) night, repeatedly,” Fougere said. “When it’s on a heritage bylaw list, it means you don’t have the ability to demolish it if you want to. You have to follow a procedure here.”

Fougere said the owner has the option to sell the property.

Long guns the concern, not handguns

The mayor later took questions from listeners during Gormley’s City Hall Hotline segment, one regarding the Liberal Party’s election promise to give cities the power to ban or restrict handguns.

While Regina has seen a spike in gun crime this year, Fougere was skeptical that would be the antidote.

“The long guns, the rifles, are more of a concern than handguns. That seems to be the focus in Regina so I’m not sure the banning of handguns would actually address the issue,” he said.

“There’s not a lot of handguns, that we understand, in the commission of crimes happening here.”

Guns have been blamed for a big increase in the number of attempted murder charges being laid by police in the city this year.