Demolition work on the former Northbridge Hotel in Kamloops will continue once Telus has moved its antennas that are currently on the roof of the building.

That is according to the City’s Capital Projects Supervisor Ryan Maalerud, who tells Radio NL the Vancouver-based telecommunications company has identified a new location with final details currently being worked on.

“[The antennas are] still active and plays a pretty crucial role in Telus’ communication network in the city of Kamloops,” Maalerud said. “It is likely not going on another city building. I’m guessing they’re working on an agreement with a private building in the vicinity.”

It is not clear what the hold up is – or how much longer its going to take – but Maalerud notes the moving of the antennas was identified at the start of the demolition process.

“We knew it was up there. There was talk with Telus early on with a different division in the city about potentially finding a temporary solution,” Maalerud said. “I don’t have information on why that didn’t work out.”

“The original game plan was a temporary tower network while they worked on a permanent solution. Unfortunately, during the abatement phase, conversations with Telus changed somewhat, so now we’re stuck in this waiting game a little bit.”

Work to demolish the building at 377 Tranquille Road in Kamloops began in late March. It was expected to be completed within six months, roughly at the end of September.

Maalerud says these delays won’t cost Kamloops taxpayers anything as Telus will be paying all of the costs to relocate those antennas.

“Whether they move it or they put up new antennas and dispose of the existing ones, that is still kind of in the detail phases with Telus,” Maalerud said.

“The abatement phase came in right on budget and on schedule. We do have a fixed price with our demolition contractors [Clearview Demolitions] so once we can get the Telus situation rectified, they’ll be back on site. I don’t anticipate any additional costs.”

The City bought the hotel for $7.1 million in October 2021, with plans to redevelop the building into market housing, which is expected to happen “at a future date.”

Also included in that deal was the adjacent property at 346 Campbell Avenue, which BC Housing is buying for $3.8 million. BC Housing plans to construct a six-storey, 80-unit affordable housing building.

It is not clear when demolition work will resume, but Maalerud tells Radio NL he is hoping its sooner rather than later.

“We’re hopeful that’s going to come down soon and we can get on with the demolition,” he said.