A Dawson City landowner who promised to fix up his dilapidated – and historically valuable – properties once his legal troubles were settled has been sent back to trial by the B.C. Court of Appeal.

That has left Dawson residents wondering when the crumbling buildings will be repaired.

Mike Palma either owns or is the agent for numbered corporations which own a number of prominent properties in the Klondike town.

Those include the historic bank where Robert Service once worked, a large hotel and restaurant at the entrance of town, and an apartment building across from Robert Service School.

The crumbling state of the bank where the Yukon's famous poet worked as a teller has been a long-standing sore spot for the Klondike Visitors' Association (KVA) and community members.

The restaurant – Amica's – and the apartment building are both required to meet ever-increasing seasonal housing needs of the "second gold rush” happening in the territory.

"I think there is a strong consensus there is an increasingly urgent need to do something with the building,” KVA director Gary Parker said this week of the abandoned bank on Front Street.

"... It is getting older and becoming an eyesore, and what that does is it invites more of a discussion around the community about what to do with it.”

Much of that dialogue has centred around the fact the building is privately owned, so there is not much the town, visitors' association nor the chamber of commerce can do about it.

Meanwhile, the chamber and the town's administration are keen to get Palma's other properties back up to code and on the rental market.

"It's quite prominent as you come into town,” Olesh said of Amica's. "Also, it's a large space, so if a company came in, they could conceivably use the hotel to house their employees.”

The apartments across from the school, which are uninhabitable in their current state, would be a welcome addition the town's permanent housing stock, Olesh said.

When the Star spoke to Palma's former lawyer, Frank Calandra, more than a year ago, he indicated his client would be attending to his Dawson properties once his legal battle was over. Apart from some scaffolding put up around the bank, however, nothing seems to have been done since.

"I'm not aware of any next steps, and I suspect there is none,” Parker said of Palma's plans for his properties.

He noted there was some talk about the CIBC helping to restore the bank, but those conversations never produced any significant results. There would also be heritage grant money available for a restoration project, Parker said, but he has not heard of any movement on that front either.

Both the apartments and the hotel/restaurant have been empty for at least five years, according to the town's fire chief, who said he is in regular contact with Palma or a caretaker to ensure the properties do not become a public safety concern.

Palma is presumably distracted by the fact he is being sued by the Insurance Corp. of British Columbia for alleged fraud, conversion and witness tampering in connection with an insurance fraud ring.

The government-owned insurer claims Palma was part of a scheme whereby a person would falsely report his vehicle stolen, collect the insurance money, then either change the vehicle identification number and move it to another jurisdiction or dismantle it and install the parts on other vehicles.

In 2009, a B.C. Supreme Court judge dismissed the case against Palma, saying that although his Surrey, B.C. property was clearly used as a chop shop for the "stolen” vehicles, there was no evidence Palma knew what was happening there.

Another Yukon resident, Joe Suska, was named as a major player in the scam. The same judge who exonerated Palma found Suska liable for extensive insurance fraud.

Once the trial was over, the judge awarded Palma special costs. He said the insurance company acted in a "reprehensible, scandalous or outrageous” way when it accused Palma of manipulating witnesses.

But both rulings were thrown out earlier this month, and the B.C. Court of Appeal ordered a new trial – meaning Palma's legal troubles have started anew.

The appeal court judges also said the new trial should include evidence alleging Palma or someone acting in his interests called a witness and convinced her to change her testimony to protect Palma.

The Star was unable to reach Palma or his current legal counsel for comment on this story.