SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The planned demolition of the Robertson Headframe at the Con Mine site will erase another symbol of the city's mining past, says an advocate for its preservation.

The Robertson Headframe, nearly 25 storeys tall, has loomed in the city skyline since the 1970s. Within the coming weeks it will be demolished, which Walt Humphries says will close a chapter on the city's mining history. - Shane Magee/NNSL photo

"It would close a chapter on the history of Yellowknife," said Walt Humphries, president of the NWT Mining Heritage Society and Yellowknifer columnist.

Last week, Yellowknifer reported the iconic structure rising above the Con Mine site will come down as soon as the end of April. Newmont Mining Corporation, in the midst of remediating the former gold mine, has signed a contract with a demolition firm that will use a controlled explosion to bring down the 249-foot-tall steel framed building.

The planned demolition comes roughly five months after the C-shaft headframe at Giant Mine was taken down piece-by-piece.

For Humphries, its fall is a missed chance to develop some kind of tourism or mining history attraction.

"If we lose the headframe, it's a crying shame and we've lost a golden opportunity," he said.

When the nearly 25-storey structure completed in 1977 comes down, it will also mean the territory has lost its tallest structure. The next tallest is the high rise apartment building in Hay River.

As a history of Con Mine published in 2007 by the heritage society notes, the structure has been used as a beacon for boats on Great Slave Lake and pilots flying into the city.

Humphries said the fight to save the structure has been a lonely one lately.

In 2014, about 40 protesters packed city council chambers calling for action to save the headframe.

City administration ended its look into whether it could acquire the building last year, saying Newmont wouldn't transfer it without liability being waived.

With that, the city's attempt to save the building was dropped. Last week, city politicians including deputy mayor Adrian Bell, expressed disappointment.

"It's unfortunate that it's come to this, but the city ran it up the flag pole to see what we could do about taking it over and we were told that the territorial government was not in a position to allow us to take it over for reasons of liability," said Bell.

He said it is a shame to lose a community landmark.

"It's unfortunate that 10 or 15 years ago when alternative uses for the headframe were looked at - things such as restaurants or greenhouses - that wasn't really followed up on with any sort of business proposals. There might have been an opportunity there," he said.

Coun. Julian Morse, elected after the city halted its look at saving the structure, echoed Bell's disappointment.

"It's certainly not a good news story and I don't think anyone in Yellowknife wants to see it come down but from the sound of it, it's owned by a company, it's a big liability and the city wasn't in a position to take it on," Morse said.

"In the absence of a private entity coming in and taking it on and providing a solution, I think the sad truth is there's no way to save it," Morse said.

Con Mine closed in 2003 and Newmont has been cleaning up the site, including tailings ponds. The headframe is one of the last pieces of infrastructure to be demolished.