In 150 Mile House just south of Williams Lake, residents George Atamanenko and John Hoyrup stand helpless as their community鈥檚 historic courthouse deteriorates before their eyes.
鈥淚t鈥檚 frustrating, I mean, to deal with the people that don鈥檛 think you should be spending money on it and yet they鈥檙e part of the community, you kind of think that maybe they would be more accommodating,鈥� said Hoyrup as he looked on at the old building propped up on wooden blocks.
Caught in a field with a salmon bearing creek and a Chemo RV dealership to its right, a trailer park to its left, a highway ahead of it and a distant ranch behind it separated only by soft ground, the old building is essentially stuck.
鈥淚t鈥檚 an island,鈥� Hoyrup said. 鈥淪ome places you have good access, and other places you're caught between a rock and a hard place.鈥�
During its active days, the 150 Mile Courthouse served many purposes from a jail, post office, courtroom and a family residence. The current building was constructed in 1913 and was referred to by locals as the Rose House because it sat in the same spot where the community鈥檚 first constable, Frederick Rose, once lived.
Today, the courthouse sits off the Cariboo Highway, just north of the little red which dates back to the 19th century. The courthouse is one of the community鈥檚 last remaining historic structures, calling back to a time when 150 Mile, with its milder weather, was a winter refuge for miners. Nestled along the Old Cariboo Road, the community was a busy spot during the gold rush as travellers stopped over in its hotel and roadhouse.
Judy MacLeod, volunteer coordinator with the Museum of the Cariboo Chilcotin, said the Cariboo Chilcotin region attracts tourists not only for its diverse geography and abundance of nature, but also for its unique history.
鈥淧eople are interested in what we鈥檝e done in our young 96 years,鈥� MacLeod said. She said people come from all over the world to get a taste of the 鈥榳ild western culture,鈥� and visitors who aren't here looking for history are sure to find it.
Great visions, hopeless without access
The 150 Mile Greenbelt, Trail and Heritage Society has an agreement to occupy the courthouse which sits on Cariboo Regional District (CRD) property, and heritage advocates such as Atamanenko and Hoyrup, both members of the society, had great visions for the site.
鈥淚t was our original plan to work on this,鈥� Hoyrup said, pointing at the courthouse which they long hoped to restore. They wanted to set up a picnic area with information signs, and they hoped to build a bridge across the Borland Creek, 100 metres or so to the right of the courthouse, where two more buildings from the community鈥檚 past silently sit.
"They鈥檝e been around a long time,鈥� Hoyrup said of the old buildings which were once a blacksmith鈥檚 shop and a tack shop. They too are pieces of 150 Mile鈥檚 heritage slowly fading away, relocated when the Chemo RV dealership moved into the area. The logistics of accessing the buildings for repairs or getting them out from where they sit on Chemo鈥檚 property make saving the sites just about an impossible task.
鈥淪o, they鈥檙e done,鈥� Hoyrup said.
The courthouse was also moved a few metres back from where it once stood, as work by the Ministry of Transportation and Transit (MOTT) to widen Highway 97 displaced the building.
"It used to be right there, right up close to the road,鈥� Hoyrup said.
At the time this work was done on the highway, Atamanenko said he was promised access to the site by MOTT, but as it stands, the courthouse cannot be accessed from the highway.
鈥淗ighways won't let us modify the prism of the road,鈥� Hoyrup said.
In a statement to the Tribune, MOTT said the parcel of land on which the courthouse sits was acquired by the CRD in 2012 when work was being done to four-lane the highway through 150 Mile House.
鈥淎 condition of the sale was there would be no direct access to or from Highway 97 for the newly created parcel. The CRD was a party to the drafting of this covenant on the property,鈥� reads the statement. A four-lane bridge was also constructed over the creek and the ministry said, 鈥渋t was not designed to accommodate future direct access to adjacent parcels.鈥�
'It didn't take long for the writing to be on the wall'
Regardless of whether or not they can access the property, there is also the issue of funding. When the Greenbelt Society first acquired an agreement to occupy the courthouse, the building was already showing significant wear. With the agreement came a grant, but it would have taken the society much more fundraising to restore the building. Costs for working on the roof and foundation alone would amount to $25,000, and those are calculations from about ten years ago.
鈥淎nd then what? You've got to get in here. I mean, you can't get a cement truck in here,鈥� Hoyrup said. 鈥淚t didn't take long for the writing to be on the wall and say, I'm afraid we're going to have to walk away.鈥�
Unable to access the courthouse from the highway, the society explored alternative options, but being surrounded by private property meant there were few.
At the very least, the courthouse could be relocated, the pair suggested to the 108 Mile Heritage site, but this idea has also proved to be futile. They've already determined accessing the building from the front would require modifications which cannot be done.
Moving the courthouse through the back of the property would mean traversing soft ground.
鈥淲e鈥檇 just punch it out," Hoyrup explained.
To its left, there鈥檚 little room to get through the trailer park, and doing so would require permission from the owners for whom the pair said were not open to the idea.
"He was rather blunt about it," Atamanenko said when describing the neighbouring property owners鈥� response to their requests to access the property. The owners declined to comment for this story.
With no means of accessing the courthouse for maintenance nor relocation, the building has fallen further and further into disrepair over the years.
鈥淚 think it was in such a state of repair that it would be worth your life to go in there. There were all kinds of boards and nails sticking up," Hoyrup said.
After 20 years of obstacles preventing the restoration and preservation of the building, the 150 Mile Courthouse is nearing a true and final end.
鈥淎t this point there's no movement 鈥� it鈥檚 going to be disassembled,鈥� Atamanenko said.
What's left to salvage
The courthouse was removed from the CRD heritage registry in and is expected to be demolished in the fall once the ground has frozen over. How to access the site for demolition is yet another obstacle they will have to work around.
鈥淚t鈥檚 most unfortunate,鈥� Hoyrup said. "We just continue along, try not to look over here when we drive by."
At the very least, the Little Red Schoolhouse just down the road continues to stand strong. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the schoolhouse would get about 100 visitors during the summer months, and that number is gradually returning to normal. However, it takes funding to run it, and this year the Greenbelt Society was denied a federal grant they rely on to pay a summer student.
鈥淚t鈥檚 sort of a squeeze for all of these heritage places,鈥� Atamanenko said, noting the schoolhouse is far from the only historic site struggling to secure its future.
Once the 150 Mile Courthouse is demolished, local artists hope to use some of the scrap wood to frame their work. There are also stones on that site which were once part of a wall along the old wagon road. If they can get the stones moved from the courthouse to the schoolhouse, they want to recreate a section of the wall; another piece to salvage from the relatively recent but ever waning history of the Cariboo gold rush.
With files from George Atamanenko, Barry Sales and Branwen Patenaude's book Trails to Gold Volume Two: Roadhouses of the Cariboo
