Farnam demolition one of Canada's worst losses: heritage group

A national heritage group is calling the demolition of a Saskatoon landmark one of the worst losses in all of Canada this year.

The 103-year-old Farnam Block Building on Broadway Avenue was demolished in March.

The National Trust for Canada recently released its list of the worst heritage losses across the country this year, and the Farnam building — which housed Lydia’s Pub — made the list.

The owner of the building told CTV that Farnam had too many structural issues to be renovated.

A last ditch effort by local supporters to save the building failed.

The National Trust is concerned about heritage properties in cities, and says over the past 30 years, Canada has lost more than 20 per cent of historic buildings in urban areas.

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  Memorial signs sit taped to a construction fence as a backhoe sorts through the rubble of the now-demolished Farnam Block building. (Kevin Menz/CTV Saskatoon)