With an aging building, Riverside Mission is looking to build a new $6 million facility on River Street West. 

Riverside Mission is currently operated by Soul’s Harbour Rescue Mission in Regina. 

The new building would be located at 212 and 218 River St. W. as the dilapidated buildings on those lots have been demolished. 

The development is expected to be three-stories high, 22,750 square feet, with 24 affordable housing units, addiction services, job skills training, an emergency shelter, and other services. 

Joe Miller, executive director of Soul’s Harbour, talked about the future of the current Riverside Mission building. 

“There's a very good possibility that we may just knock them down. I don't know what the market value will be at that time as well,” he said. 

Miller said two years ago, Souls Harbour replaced one of their buildings in Regina for $7.2 million and it included 17 housing units, a meal program, and a subsidized daycare. 

He added that during his time with Souls Harbour they’ve gone down from seven buildings to four as he doesn’t like old buildings because they can be an eyesore and cost more money in the long run. 

The project was before city council on Monday night to rezone the property from light industrial to high-density commercial, barring an up-to-date environmental assessment. 

Coun. Heather Eby spoke in favour of the project. 

“It's an exciting project. I'm really happy to see that empty lot over there finally and got rid of that eyesore of a building so we're off to a good start,” she said. 

City council unanimously passed the motion to start the rezoning process. Soul’s Harbour is hoping to have shovels in the ground starting in the spring of 2022.