Kent Karemaker traded in his tiny condo on the West Coast for a 36-room vacant hotel, with a leaky roof, in rural Saskatchewan — a move he believes may have saved his life.

The 44-year-old former government worker bought the dilapidated Grand Hotel in Shaunavon, which is about 280 kilometres southwest of Regina and has about 1,700 residents. He has ambitious plans to restore it.

"I knew this project was so huge and monumental that it would take me a long time to do it, and that's a good thing," K…