Central Okanagan Heritage Society director Shona Harrison was shocked to learn that the bricks from the former 1908 Kelowna Courier facade were being tossed into piles below by construction workers on Dec. 12.

Harrison said property owners, the Mark Anthony Group, had "made a promise" to the heritage society to salvage the heritage bricks of the facade, which were made from the clay of Knox Mountain in the early 1900s.

"The bricks needed to be treated with the respect that they deserve," Harrison said. "My horror to see my beloved heritage bricks on the ground."

The facade has sat at the corner of Lawrence Avenue and Water Street surrounded by scaffolding for four years as the Mark Anthony Group made different proposals to the city for the development of the site. 

Now, in an effort to open up parking in the area, it was agreed upon by Kelowna city staff, the heritage society, and the Mark Anthony Group to dismantle the facade, however, the bricks were to be salvaged to be used in the future.  

Harrison said some of the work was done properly to save a number of the old bricks as well as the signage from the front of the facade.

"However, the whole building was made with heritage bricks... Preservation is not saying, 'Oh, well we don't have this column here or that column,' it is saving the whole building. And, we need to do that in order to rebuild it, which is the promise," explained Harrison. 

Members of the Mark Anthony Group met with Harrison at the construction site on  Dec. 12, after she was alerted to the day's construction, to discuss the preservation work. 

"We've been assured that the bricks that are discarded on the ground... that they are picking them up and treating them with respect and putting them into crates," explained Harrison.

Black Press Media contacted the Mark Anthony Group for comment but did not receive a response by publication deadline.