Demolition of Regina houses for new parking lot has former resident upset

Earlier this month, Regina city council approved the demolition of the houses to make way for a new parking lot for an office building across the street.

New plans approved by Regina’s city council to demolish a pair of houses on Scarth Street for a new parking lot are drawing disapproval from a former resident of one of the houses.

Kim Sakundiak used to live in one of the two houses seated along Scarth Street between 13th and 14th Avenues. In the ’90s, she says the house was filled with high energy, but now, it sits boarded up on a street surrounded by office buildings.

“I think people would probably think, ‘Oh, that’s ridiculous, being so sad over this rundown little house,’ but to me, it’s more than just that house, it’s the whole community, the whole downtown,” Sakundiak said. “For me, every time I go downtown I drive past my little house and I’m like, ‘Oh, my house is still there,’ and now it won’t be.”

Earlier this month, Regina city council approved the demolition of the houses to make way for a new parking lot for an office building across the street. The parking lot would be exclusively used by the office building.

“The applicant property has applied to accommodate a 13-stall parking lot in place of those two homes,” said Ben Mario, Regina’s city planning manager.

Sakundiak lived in the house as a young adult for 15 years in the ’90s and early 2000s. It was her first home living independently and she says the planned demolition is heartbreaking.

She says she had some of her fondest memories in that house and her attachment to it is very high. Her mother even had a painting of the house commissioned for her.

“At that time, downtown was a community, it wasn’t as disjointed as it kind of feels right now,” Sakundiak said. “A lot of my early memories are just working downtown and then staying after work and going to different clubs or restaurants and meeting up with friends who also lived downtown.”