It is no small irony that in this Centennial year for Saskatchewan, one of this community's, and province's, largest historic structures stands at the brink of being demolished, and wiped from our collective memories.

About 85 years ago, a huge, sprawling brick building was constructed on Weyburn's northwest corner, surrounded by about 90 acres or so of park land. At the time of its construction, the Saskatchewan Hospital was the largest building not only in this province, but in the Commonwealth.

The hospital's later names included the Weyburn Mental Hospital, and its current moniker, Souris Valley Extended Care Centre, now discontinued in favour of the newly-opened Tatagwa View long-term care facility.

At its peak, over 2,000 patients lived in this facility; it had tennis courts, paved sidewalks, houses for doctors and dorms for nurses, and its own farm. The houses are gone except for the foundations, the farm is long gone, and the tennis courts are now used as a storage area.

The main structure of Souris Valley still stands, although all ground floor windows all the way around it have been boarded up, and in some of the wings all the windows are covered by plywood, lending it an eerie feeling of abandonment. All former tenants have moved out, including the health district.

A committee was formed with a view to finding an alternative use for the facility, and some ideas were brought forward - but to date, none of those have been accepted as viable options. The real estate company contracted to market the facility is still doing so, although no solid leads have come to them to this point.

The fate of the facility has come down to two proposals currently, one of which requires the funding of a feasibility study to see if it would be viable or not. It's another strange irony that the economic development authority trying to get this proposal through has to go to a government department for funds for the study, in regard to a facility owned by the government's Sask. Property Management Corporation.

The other proposal is from a private firm, who is checking out the facility and their needs to determine if they could make a go of it.

In any event, SEREDA is running out of options, said director Dylan Clarke, noting, "This is the last gasp, more or less."

If there are any companies, entrepreneurs or organizations who have been considering making some sort of proposal for the use of Souris Valley, now would be the ideal time to step forward, particularly as the plans call for the heat to be left off this winter, and funds will be requested in next spring's budget for the building's demolition.

Indeed, SPMC would do well to pay attention to the proposals that are coming forward now; it would be far better for the province's taxpayers, not to mention the community of Weyburn, if money was spent to buy and develop Souris Valley, than using millions of taxpayers' dollars to demolish a historic landmark that has been a large part of Weyburn's history over the last 85 years. - G.N.