Kootenay Christian Fellowship plans to redevelop the old Savoy Hotel.
They’ve applied to the city for a zoning amendment that would allow the building to be used for church purposes.
Senior planner Dave Wahn says staff have reviewed the application, but it has yet to go before city council. He expects that could happen as early as this month, but more likely in March.
“The proposal is to use the entire building but the church would only be part of it,” Wahn says. “The existing zone does not allow for church operation.”
He adds the idea is to redesign the space for residential, commercial, and church use, with a soup kitchen operating in the basement.
The building has been mostly or entirely vacant since a fire in the Mazatlan restaurant in November 2007.
At that time it also had a hostel upstairs and a lounge.
While a permit was previously issued to renovate the building, a full-scale redevelopment did not proceed.
A notice of development sign was posted on the building within the last couple of weeks.
Kootenay Christian Fellowship presently operates out of a building on Stanley Street, and through its Our Daily Bread program provides low-cost luncheons five days a week.
Pastor Jim Reimer is away at meetings in Calgary and was unavailable for comment.