Restoring and renovating the old Oliver building downtown has been a labour of love for Hunter Heggie and his business partner Brian Vandenberg.
“We are digging for gold here. The hardwood is part of the gold, but the brick is more gold. It is just absolutely gorgeous,” Heggie said.
The building is fully under construction, after being badly neglected for decades.
“There was pigeon poop in the entire upstairs about an inch thick… so we’ve gone from an inch of pigeon poop to a phenomenal hardwood floor. It is just amazing,” Heggie added.
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The pair purchased the building from the City of Lethbridge earlier this year. The building was destined to be torn down, but Heggie and Vandenberg were determined to keep the century-old building in the downtown.
“We get letters, calls from people. Just regular Lethbridge citizens saying right on, we are with ya, save that building.”
Their plan is to have business space for restaurants and other establishments on the main level, and they’re hoping to have housing and office space upstairs.
“Put your imagination toque on, and imagine a studio apartment. How sweet would that be,” Heggie said.
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The renovations have thrown up their fair share of surprises.
“As we started cleaning up, we discovered this stairway. It was covered up and gone for the last 50 years,” Heggie said.
The building is slowly coming back to life, and Heggie said the process may be slow, but it is rewarding.
“Its amazing what we’ve accomplished in six months. I can’t wait to see in 18 months what we can do. It will be, I hope jaw dropping, and I hope it will be exciting for the whole city.”
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