Image Credit: Kent Simmonds / CFJC Today

By Michael Reeve

ST. Andrew's Repairs

City of Kamloops aiming for 6-to-12 months to repair St. Andrew’s on the Square

May 6, 2024 | 6:00 PM

KAMLOOPS — Restoration crews have been on scene at St. Andrew’s on the Square since a fire damaged portions of the historic church.

Kamloops Fire Rescue has confirmed that the fire started on the outside of the building on Thursday (May 2), and at this time Kamloops RCMP say the investigation remains open and ongoing.

While KFR was able to quickly knock down the flames, a number of community groups who were planning to use the space have been forced to find a ‘Plan B.’

“We kind of had to assess how many are coming up and what we could do — are there other venues we could put them at?” said Dusan Magdolen, Cultural Services and Events Manager for the City of Kamloops. “From the zero-to-six months range, we tried to go full refund and then a free rental at another venue if we had it in the city — so trying our best there. And then beyond six months, they will have a credit on file to move forward. But somewhere in that range hopefully [St. Andrew’s repairs] will be done, so they can hold out and wait or use the credit at another venue or something like that.”

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Six months is the optimistic side of the timetable, with Magdolen noting it could run upwards of a year to bring the oldest public building in Kamloops back to its former glory.

Thankfully the majority of the fire, water and smoke damage was limited to the back areas of the church and not the main hall.

“The sprinklers inside the actual church itself didn’t go off, so really it’s just the flooding that did the floor. There will be some drywall at the bottom, baseboards, that sort of thing, pews and things got affected. The front door got affected because KFR had to break in to get to the fire. But the actual church… the stained glass windows are still great, obviously some cleaning, maybe some paint will be needed but that is the least affected part of the building — which is great because that is the most important,” said Magdolen.