Plans for the old Vet Building in Fort Assiniboine

FORT ASSINIBOINE – Jeff Zhang, Director, Infrastructure Services for Woodlands County discussed the future plans for the old Vet Building in Fort Assiniboine at the Agriculture Services Board Meeting on Jan. 14.

The Vet Building, built in the 1980s, is currently being used for storage and was assessed to determine the condition of the building.

“We recommend to just leave the building as storage,” stated Zhang.

“Eventually if the building is no longer functioning as storage, demolition of the building would reduce the county's liability.”

Today part of the building is used by Woodlands County Infrastructure division, Parks and Recreation and the Goose Lake Recreation Association.

The previous office space area is used as storage.

The last time it was used as an office was three years ago and there is currently no water or sewer services in the building.

An assessment on the building condition was completed in November. According to Zhang, a large financial investment would be required for the building to meet provincial regulatory building code standards.

The report has identified $120,000 of necessary repairs for it to operate as an office building in the next five years.

This investment would address mechanical, electrical, plumbing and interior upgrades that are needed.

There are more cost expenditures that would be required to keep the building operational in the longer term.

The current replacement value for the building in the assessment was evaluated at $450,000.

The history of the building includes when it was repurposed for a veterinarian that worked out of there for number of years as a lease.

It has a tin roof and as long as the roof holds up it can continue to be used by the groups currently sharing the space as per Zhang.

It was agreed that the building just be left as is until such a time that it can no longer be properly maintained.

The building’s maintenance was included in the 2025 budget plan.

Zhang will make the necessary change to the capital plan with the decision to leave the building function as primarily storage.