The first public meeting to hear suggestions or proposals on the future use of the Souris Valley Extended Care Centre will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 25, in Souris Valley's Assembly Hall.

The meeting is being held by the Souris Valley Future Use Committee, and will get underway at 7 p.m. If no viable suggestions or proposals can be found by the committee, the building may not survive the wrecking ball in its current form, as the building has been offered to other government agencies and departments, and no one has stepped forward with interest.

The committee has received a number of suggestions for the use of the facility, said Dylan Clarke of the Southeast Saskatchewan Regional Economic Development Authority (SEREDA), but unfortunately, very few of the ideas have any details to them, and a number of them propose free use of the building, such as use as a rec centre, rather than garnering revenue to help pay for the building's operating costs.

"What we'll do is put up a listing of the suggestions received so far. It won't be anything in-depth yet; our original idea was to have more in-depth suggestions," said Clarke, estimating the committee has received around 40-50 ideas so far.

The meeting will also have updates from the firm hired to market Souris Valley and its potential uses, along with representatives from the facility's owner, Saskatchewan Property Management Corporation (SPMC).

Public tours of Souris Valley will also be held earlier that day, at 2 and 4 p.m. Anyone interested in taking a tour should preregister with Clarke at the SEREDA office.

"We're going to stress that if you have an idea that's feasible, give us a couple pages of how it might work," said Clarke, adding that the marketing firm is doing up an assessment report for the committee and for SPMC, and it will reference the suggestions that have been made.

The Future Use Committee was put in place once it was determined its current use as a health care facility will end once the Tatagwa View long-term health facility is completed and patients and staff move into its 135-bed space.

Construction is progressing on the $21 million Tatagwa View facility, located on the Souris Valley grounds near the First Avenue entrance. Steelwork is up and some of the walls are in place for the main building. Construction is expected to continue through the winter and spring for completion by next summer.

Committee member Mayor Don Schlosser agreed there have been a fair number of ideas brought forward for the future use of Souris Valley, but noted some of them lack detail or are just not feasible.

"The people who will be marketing the ideas will be looking at what they feel is feasible. They'll be talking to us about some of the ideas also if they feel there's something worth looking at," said the mayor.

Of the ideas received so far, he said, "The majority of them is all free stuff, nothing that would bring in revenue. There has to be some kind of revenue, this is a very expensive facility to run."
The members of the Future Use Committee include Mayor Schlosser, Dylan Clarke of SEREDA, representatives from SPMC, the RM of Weyburn, the Chamber of Commerce and the Sun Country Regional Health Authority, and members-at-large John Porter, Delaine Barber, Sheila Mondor, Vance Molder and Dave Kerr.
One person who has submitted some ideas is a long-time booster of Souris Valley, Weyburn historian Isabelle Eaglesham.
"I'm glad they are working on it. We don't want to lose that building. It would be terrible to knock that building down," she said.
One of her ideas was to create condominium units for seniors or retired people, and another was to provide a facility for people suffering with schizophrenia to use and to interact with each other.
"They don't seem to make friends very easily; why don't they have a rec centre and a workshop for them. They'd have the company of each other. I'm quite serious about that one," said Eaglesham, noting she had a granddaughter who committed suicide after suffering for years on her own with schizophrenia.
She noted she has suggested making Souris Valley a provincial heritage site, but this has never been done.
"I don't think the owners (SPMC) want to make it a heritage site, so they're free to do what they want with it. I'm just guessing that," she said.
Souris Valley was originally the Weyburn Mental Hospital when it opened in 1921, and at the time was said to be the largest structure in Saskatchewan. The facility was renamed the Saskatchewan Hospital in 1947 until 1971, when it became Souris Valley. At its peak in 1946, the facility had a patient population of 2,534 with 268 staff. Today there are approximately 150 patients in residence, plus the administrative offices for the Sun Country Regional Health Authority are housed there.
In recent years, tenants such as Southeast Regional College and the Soo Line Boxing Club have had to vacate their premises there due to the cost to meet modern fire codes. The Family Place is the largest non-health care tenant in the building, with its large playrooms, game rooms and space for the Mini-Go program. Other organizations with offices in Souris Valley include Big Brothers and Big Sisters Association, Early Childhood Intervention, and the Violence Intervention Program.