Regina church fences off property after four fires since June

Not long after the City of Regina fenced off the front lawn of City Hall, another building nearby has done the same.

Knox-Metropolitan United Church at the corner of Victoria Avenue and Lorne Street has put up a large red fence around the building’s outdoor area.

Barbara Shourounis, the chair of the church’s board, said many homeless people had been staying overnight on the building’s steps.

“The reason (for the fence) has been the series of fires going on on church property in and around the building over the past few months,” said Shourounis.

There have been four fires on the church’s property since June.

Shourounis said the board of trustees had a legal obligation to protect the property of the church. The board acted on that duty to try and protect the church from the risk of fire.

“We considered the options and the only solution that we could come up with — and this is an interim solution — was to put up the fencing because of the risk,” said Shourounis.

A homeless encampment popped up on the grounds of City Hall in June to raise awareness about the issue in Regina. The camp was decommissioned in late July and the city erected a fence around the grounds.

Mayor Sandra Masters subsequently said $60,000 worth of repairs needed to be done to the grounds. Those repairs may not happen until the spring, but the fence surrounding City Hall remains up.

Shourounis said people started to sleep on the front steps of the church in 2020.

The board chair noted that, in 2021, a fire started in the corner of the alcove on the Lorne Street entrance. She said it cracked the mortar between the cement blocks that form the walls of the basic structure of the church. The price tag on the repairs was $3,000.

“We had been advised that if there was another fire in that area, it would ignite the combustible material inside the big cement blocks,” said Shourounis.

The four fires that have burned around the building since June have not caused any damage because they were put out quickly. Shourounis is still concerned about more fires that could have dire consequences.

“That’s not to say that future fires would be handled in the same way,” said Shourounis. “There could be bigger fires and we couldn’t put them out.

“All fires start small. We don’t want to wait for a big fire to put the fence up.”

Shourounis said the fence is only a temporary solution because it’s “unattractive and it sends a bad message,” but right now the board is worried about larger fires happening.

Both the board and the trustees with Knox-Metropolitan United Church are meeting this week to deal with the people sleeping on the steps and dealing with the risk of fire.