The Jasper Legion remains in financial hot water, but recent interest from Grande Prairie Regional College in the vacant space in its building has the potential to bring down the heat.
Since École Desrochers moved out of the space earlier this year, Legion President Ken Kuzminski has been scrambling to find a tenant.
The income provided by the tenants helps keeps the Legion’s books in the black, but regulations in the Canada National Parks Act limit the kind of organization that is allowed to move in, making it difficult to fill the space.
In September, Kuzminski explained to the Fitzhugh that the Legion is now paying the utility bills for a huge vacant space, all the while loosing out on thousands of dollars in monthly rental payments, putting pressure on its already tight budget.
“Every month that goes by we’re going to dig ourselves deeper and deeper,” he said. “We have to stop the bleeding.”
In September, after Parks Canada rejected several proposals for the space, Kuzminski became so frustrated he applied to have it demolished. The application sparked an outcry from musicians like Del Barber and Stephen Fearing, who worried that one of their favourite Canadian music venues would be shut down.
Demolishing the space would mean a permanent loss of income, and throw the survival of the Legion into question. But now, with the interest from GPRC, Kuzminski has put demolition on hold.
According to the college’s president, Don Gnatiuk, GPRC wants to create a culinary school in Jasper, and the Legion is a prime location.
Gnatiuk said he has been “in discussion with some members of the community and our local MLA, and they thought it was necessary for us to research the opportunity for a culinary school in Jasper.”
He has put together a team who will come to Jasper next month and meet with “key people” in the community, to see what kind of interest and support the idea can garner.
He said that no decision has been made yet, but the school could offer any number of programs, from basic to high-end culinary skills or even week-long or one-off courses.
“We’re not precluding anything at this time,” he said.
Before the college can begin thinking about renting the Legion’s space, however, it needs to get financial support from the provincial government. Gnatuik said he plans to put several proposals in front of the province soon, and once he gets a response he will know if the plans can move forward.
In the meantime, Kuzminski has no guaranteed tenant booked into the space, and he said he is still taking any and all proposals.
“Until we actually get something concrete proposed to us, we’re looking at all the options,” he said.
For the time being, he said he plans to have the space converted back to the state it was in before the French school took it over—that means knocking out some walls and opening up the space again—and hopefully renting the space out for private functions. It could also turn back into a games room.
That plan, however, is only a temporary one, and Kuzminski insisted that demolition is still a viable option. He said if that does happen he would turn the space into “one hell of a patio,” in the hopes of capitalizing on the summer rush.
“I’m just ready to get going on whatever we decide—whether it’s demolition or whatever, I just want to move forward.”
Trevor Nichols
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