Le Chateau Bathurst not opening soon
Owner has received no 'substantial' offers to purchase closed hotel
It looks like a very sweet offer is needed to reopen the doors of Le Chateau Bathurst.
“It has to be something substantial and serious,” said owner Rijpke Beukema. “It’s not a fire sale for us, there is no need for that. If somebody comes along and offers serious money for what the place is worth in the commercial world today, then we would certainly consider that.”
He had the Main Street hotel boarded up last Sept. 17, thereby ending a 28-month-long strike by unionized employees.
The strike was a bitter one with some incidents ending up in provincial court. Not even a provincial industrial inquiry commissioner was able to find a resolution to the dispute.
Since the closure, there hasn’t been much progress in finding a new owner but Bathurst Mayor Stephen Brunet recently said an offer was made.
“We heard there was this rumour that an offer was made within the last six months...
We heard it was a good substantial offer but we can’t say it because we don’t know if it’s true. But we heard the rumour that there was (an offer) - a fairly accurate rumour,” said the mayor.
When asked about the mayor’s comments, Beukema would only say, “As far as we are concerned, there was no serious offer.”
He said even if a buyer came along, things would not move along quickly enough to allow the hotel to reopen in time for the summer tourism season.
“As far as I’m concerned, this is what I’ve forwarded to a number of people, is that the hotel will remain closed for the summer, for sure. That is 100 per cent guaranteed,” said Beukema in a telephone interview.
“You have passed a certain window. Nobody can or would buy something like this and open it up two weeks later. It doesn’t make sense.”
On June 5, 2005, about 34 members of the United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 1288P, went on strike over proposed wage rollbacks and seniority issues.
Beukema said the rollback was needed for the hotel to be in line with other similar businesses in the area.
Beukema is involved in several business ventures and operates hotels out of Halifax, N.S. where he currently resides.
He said he has not visited Bathurst in quite some time and while he said he’s trying to remember the good times he had here, his negative feelings for the area haven’t changed much.
Throughout the strike, he said he didn’t feel he was getting much in the way of support from the City of Bathurst, among other criticisms.
“As far as I’m concerned, I said what I said at the time and I meant that and that’s where it ended. From our end, nothing has changed since September.”
Le Chateau Bathurst overlooks the Bathurst Basin and is prime commercial real estate in the city’s downtown. The fact that it’s empty is a major sore point for the mayor and the downtown business community.
“Everybody’s upset when they drive by there and see it’s all boarded up and you get this type of attitude from a business person who said he’s going to punish the city...
He has left us with a black eye, there’s no doubt.”
Meanwhile, Bathust Coun. Hugh Comeau claims he is working with a potential buyer for the hotel.
“I’ve got a gentleman that wants to buy the Le Chateau so there’s another 20 or 30 jobs of people going back to work. That’s a deal I’m working on now, he wants to buy it and we just have get the price down pat,” said Coun. Comeau.
Français : Le propriétaire du Château Bathurst affirme qu’il n’a reçu aucune offre sérieuse envers l’achat de l’hôtel qui a fermé ses portes en 2005 à la suite d’une longue grève des employés.
More News
Search Articles
More CE Network Sites & Partners:
