Kin Hut is no more

A long time landmark on the east side of Prince Rupert, the Kin Hut, has been demolished due to the frequent cases of vandalism that have plagued the site over the last couple of years.

At one time a popular social gathering spot for the city, it had been handed over to the city once the Kinsmen club stopped operating in the city a number of years ago. Since that time, it has been mainly a boarded up derelict of a structure, often it seems destined to go up in flames as local vandals would try to test the response time of Prince Rupert Fire Rescue.

Located just below the Digby Towers and adjacent to the skateboard park along the banks of Hays Creek, the structure has often had many ideas floated about as to how to return the building to use and how best to preserve it from the more troublesome of Rupert residents.

in the end, the city seems to have come to the conclusion that it was best that they handle the demolition rather than let it remain a tempting target for those with a decidedly lacking sense of Civic Pride.

The Daily News had details on the woes of the Hut in Wednesday's paper.

Vandalized landmark in the park is levelled

Kin Hut bites the dust after safety concerns
BY CARLA WINTERSGILL
The Daily News
Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Mischief, arson and vandalism all played a role in the sudden demolition of the Kin Hut in McClymont Park.

A bulldozer was on hand at the skate park yesterday to dismantle the structure.

"We had made the decision as a city and working in concert with the RCMP and the recreation and community services department that the building posed significant risk to the community," said Michael Curnes, director of Prince Rupert recreation and community services.

"It had been used most recently for activities that were not in keeping with the aims of what we want our recreation department and our park department to be."

The Kinsmen at one time owned the building, but since there is no longer a Prince Rupert chapter of the group, management of the structure had fallen to the city.

"It has not been a usable building in quite some time," said Curnes. "The city doesn't have the capacity to maintain the building and because it presents a safety hazard to youth and residents, the building has been brought down."

Recent abuse to the Kin Hut has seriously compromised the integrity of the building. The most notable incident was the arson attempt on the building in August of 2007.

Tearing down the structure came as no surprise to skateboarder Marc Page of Loaded Sports.
"I knew a couple months ago that it was coming down," he said.

Page was approached by the city to try to work out a solution to the Kin Hut woes.

"I said, 'Well, you would basically have to knock the walls out so you could look in and make sure the kids weren't in there doing drugs or drinking,'" said Page. "If the walls were knocked out and the roof up, it would be a nice spot to have a little undercover area to skate under."
But in the end, it wasn't to be.

"It was decided that the building just wasn't feasible and it would just be better off to tear it down," said Page. "Hopefully, they'll now add more onto the skate park to make it a lot better and eventually put a roof on it."