Neighbors to a once proud 109-year-old historic home on Park Avenue beg the owner to do something, while the owner’s daughter says the city of Kelowna and RCMP are failing her.
Known as Buck House, near the intersection with Pandosy Street, the city’s heritage website describes it as “representative of the size and style of the houses that once stood along this coveted section of Pandosy Street”.
“Built for CG Buck about 1912, it is also significant as a local example of the late persistence of the Queen Anne Revival style. The two-story bay window and open front porch are hallmarks of the style.”
Today the house is empty, boarded up and crumbling.
“The owner does not live in the city and basically it can only be dismantled over time,” says Antonin Van Der Lely, who lives two houses away.
“It’s a tragedy. Basically, it’s a dilapidated house, it attracts uninvited visitors, and we want the house to return to its former glory, tidy and with someone living here who adds to the neighborhood.”
Van Der Lely says the homeless population brought their trash and set up a camp in the back yard, urinated on neighbors’ fences and there were break-ins.
“There’s no way we’re against the situation, it’s a very complicated situation, but that doesn’t help.”
He commends the city for doing what it can, but there are only a limited number of things that can be done. “It’s private property.”
The city has boarded up the house, apparently asked to put up a modu-loc fence to keep people out and, according to Van Der Lely, is considering hiring a company to remove trash and needles from the property.
He begs the owner to either sell it or start repairs.
Stephanie Sauer, who says the house belongs to her mother, blames the city and the RCMP for the property issues.
“We did everything the police asked us to do. We boarded it up … and it doesn’t seem to be enough,” says Sauer, who tells Castanet that her parents are sick.
“You don’t seem to be able to provide any help with the maintenance of the property which we have had no problems with in the 60 years we’ve owned it until the past two years.
“How is it that the city has failed to maintain its temporary population for the past two years?”
She says the city needs to take control and she’s frustrated that people keep walking over but never being charged.
“The police went in and found people sleeping in my bed.
“We had so many break-ins that we had to board up the whole house, which is inconvenient if we want to live there all summer.”
She says they lived indoors every summer except last year because of COVID.
“Yes, the house is old and needs a lot of maintenance, but why should I spend a lot of money on a house when the city cannot control the fugitive population and every time I fix something it just breaks. “
