Firefighters continued to survey the remains of the Lethbridge Hotel on Monday, the front of which has been reduced to a pile of wood and ice.
A fire broke out at the historic building in the early hours of Feb. 24, causing extensive damage.
“We’ve got two very large holes in the downtown now,” said Lethbridge BRZ executive director Sarah Amies.
“Two historic buildings as well, which is a huge shame. Part of our draw in the downtown is this beautiful, historic downtown site.”
About a block away on 2nd Avenue, a second historic fixture of downtown Lethbridge was lost in a fire less than a month ago.
Now, an empty space is left where the Bow on Tong building once stood.
“In terms of other businesses, there’s obviously a concern about safety because in both of those situations, there are businesses immediately adjacent to the buildings that have set fire,” Amies said.
Lethbridge police are calling Friday’s fire suspicious, asking anyone in the area between 1:45 to 2:12 a.m. that morning to contact authorities if they saw any people or activity around the hotel around that time.
The city was unable to provide an update on the Bow on Tong fire investigation on Monday, but police confirm to Global News they are also involved in that investigation.
Both buildings were vacant at the time of their fires.
One downtown business owner believes continued revitalization in the area will avoid further incidents.
“We need to find a solution to get people (in the downtown), because the more you use a space, the more positive activity, the more it keeps negative activity out,” said Levi Cox, a downtown business owner and resident.
“It’s very important to keep these buildings full, occupied and rented.”
“Absolutely it all comes down to business revitalization, marketing the downtown as a great destination to build a business. We’re always working with owners about creating a really vibrant destination so that people are more interested in leasing and/or buying those buildings,” Amies said.
“The more we do to fill those empty spaces, the less we are going to have situations like this occur.”
After the latest fire, the city is reminding business owners and residents to ensure vacant buildings are secure.