EDMONTON - A white knight could be riding to the rescue of the historic downtown Kelly-Ramsey block.

The burned-out Kelly-Ramsey Building sits empty on Rice Howard Way

Photograph by : Rick Macwilliam, The Journal.

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The adjoining Rice Howard Way structures haven't been used since a fire last March, creating concerns snow and rain could cause continued deterioration until they have to be demolished, as happened with the vintage downtown Arlington Apartments.

Creditors put the property up for judicial sale for$3 million in October after no one bid at the previous price of $10 million.

Jim Taylor, the Downtown Business Association executive director, told council's executive committee on Wednesday someone he wouldn't name made an offer last week.

The developer has helped revive downtown and Old Strathcona, and has credibility "that every member of council knows and applauds," Taylor said.

He urged the city to purchase the building if a suitable private sale can't be arranged. "We're very seriously concerned if we don't solve the Kelly-Ramsey situation, there's no hope to solve the Rice Howard Way situation," he said. "We need the building restored very quickly."

The Kelly Building was put up in 1914-15, while the Ramsey Block was built next door in 1927.

Taylor is worried a speculator could buy the site and either let the structures crumble, or demolish them, waiting to erect a highrise that in the current market won't be needed for years. "That would absolutely destroy the core of our city."

His association would like to move into the block if it's restored, which is also seen as the potential location for restaurants, galleries, housing and cultural organizations.

There is speculation the potential buyer is lawyer John Daly, who has received kudos for developments at the Garneau Theatre, the downtown Sobeys store and a fire-ravaged corner of Whyte Avenue.

Day said he can't comment.

Brittany Halford, who operated Brittany's Lounge in the buildings for seven months before the fire, said she's happy there appears to be progress toward saving the structures

Halford said she would like to reopen her business there. "For decades the building has needed to be gutted and restored. Now the situation is more urgent. We're in danger of losing the building like we lost the Arlington," she said. "I fell in love with the Kelly-Ramsey building ... I love the history of it, I loved the feel that it gave to Rice Howard Way."

The committee, which met in private to discuss the issue, asked Mayor Stephen Mandel to write to Culture Minister Lindsay Blackett requesting that the building be protected as a provincial historic site.

Although the province has the power to take this step, it has never imposed historic designation without the owner's support or request, a spokesman for the department said.

gkent@thejournal.canwest.com