By Matt Fetinko

Banquet hall closures augment many existing issues for local spots

Sep 11, 2020 | 7:17 PM

PRINCE GEORGE — A desperate time for banquet halls that usually hold large-scale events after this week’s order to close for the foreseeable future. Local centres affected are hoping to be able to come back strong after the order is taken away, while in the meantime, other struggling centres hope to take advantage of this new opportunity.

Whether it’s been weddings, birthdays, or other celebrations, times have been tough for people hoping to hold events through COVID-19. Places like the Hart Crown Banquet Hall have had to either cancel events or postpone them until next year even before the recent string of closures. But with this week’s announcement, it will be even more difficult to plan ahead with some events taking up to two years to plan.

“It’s not up to us to say. BC, so far, has been kept pretty safe but we just have to do what we’re told and try to get through this and hope at the end of this that we have economically viable business to come back to,” said the Manager for the Hart Crown Banquet Hall, Brenda Evans.

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One set of groups not being affected are service clubs. Things like the Royal Canadian Legion. COVID has pushed the local Branch 43 to the brink and being able to stay open could is a huge opportunity.

“[Being able to stay open] means we live on because if we shut down again, we’re hooped,”, explained Lorraine Kelly, the First Vice-President of Branch 43. “We’ve lost our major income source which is our Saturday night dances and they are gone for we don’t know how long.”

In a pre-COVID world the legion was a busy spot to rent out for events of over 220 people. Now parties of under 50 people can book and it would be a welcomed opportunity for the struggling centre.

Elsewhere, a similar focus for banquet halls who were also struggling before the close order and now can just hope.