Hangar 11 hangs on: Committee moves to delay decision on WWII-era building

The city is hanging onto a historic hangar for at least another year.

Councillors asked city staff to report back with options to repurpose Hangar 11 as they considered its future on Monday.

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Mayor Don Iveson said he was won over by the testimony of heritage advocates.

"You've persuaded me to take a second look at this building and see whether there's an opportunity to be creative in a way that honours the history, but also maybe brings some partners to the table to cover the cost," Iveson said during the meeting of the executive committee.

City staff expect it could take anotheryear to assess the condition of the building and report back to committee with a repurposing plan.

In the meantime, the roof will be patched up as the city tries to find partners willing to renovate the hangar, whether it be other levels of government or the private sector.

"If at the end of all of that we cannot find an economic way to do this, that will be tragic and a lost opportunity, but at least we'll have explored it," Iveson said.

The report presented to committee said a full restoration would cost up to $20 million.

Donald Luxton, a heritage consultant based in Vancouver, paid for his own flight to Edmonton to make a case for the hangar before the committee.

"What a fantastic opportunity it presents," he said, pointing to projects such as Vancouver's Gastown and San Francisco's Ghirardelli Square.

"I'm here because it's a very significant building."

Hangar 11 was built in 1942 as a critical channel to deliver aircraft and war materials to Allied forces on the Eastern Front during the Second World War. It is one ofthe last surviving structures of its kind in Canada.

But the city has considered demolishing the 7,400-square-metre hangar to make way for the Blatchford redevelopment project. The consideration prompted the National Trust of Canada to put the building on its Top 10 Endangered Places in Canada list last year.

"I expect we'll find something amazing to do with that building, but it isn't going to be in the next three or four years. It's going to take time," said Coun. Scott McKeen.

The Northern Alberta Institute of Technology is also negotiating the purchase of the land the hangar sits on to expand its campus, but prefers to buy the land clear of any buildings.

Spokesperson Marta Gold told CBC News that NAIT has no plans for the building and the future of the hangar was up to the city.

Coun. Bev Esslinger expressed hope the city could reimagine the hangar's use for future generations.

"Whether it becomes a NAIT campus or a rec centre or a library, I think it's the ingenuity that Edmontonians have that can create this into something we're all very proud of," she said.