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According to its mayor, George Fontaine, Flin Flon had a “double-dog delicious” day on Friday.
Progressive Conservative Leader Heather Stefanson was in the town and made a campaign pledge for provincial contributions toward a community swimming pool being built in Flin Flon next year, and developers announced their intention to build a new 80-to-100 room hotel.
JP Shearer, a Tim Hortons franchisee in Winnipeg, along with some partners, plan to build a Ramada by Wyndham hotel and conference centre on the site of the old Flin Flon hotel.
That hotel, across the street from city hall, has been vacant for many years and was scheduled to have a meeting with the wrecking ball this past spring.
Developers are planning to renovate the structure and add a new building onto the back.
“We believe the bones of the building make for a great platform for us to create (a new building),” Shearer said. “People are excited about the news.”
Although there are no renderings yet available as to how the new structure might look, the $20-million development is to include a conference centre, fitness room, pool, restaurant and lounge.
Shearer and his partners do not have any other connections to Flin Flon other than semi-regular fishing trips to the region. He heard about the looming demolition of the hotel and went up and saw the potential for a new development.
Fontaine said contact was made with the developers shortly before the old building was to be demolished.
“We postponed at the last minute and that turned into conversations and now it looks like we’ll have a new building, a new hotel,” said Fontaine.
“Everyone I have spoken to are very excited about it.”
There are currently a couple of other hotels in Flin Flon and one in Creighton, Sask., right next door to Flin Flon.
Fontaine said that while HudBay Minerals has recently closed a mine and smelter in the town, eliminating hundreds of jobs, there is some reasonable optimism that things will be turning around for the town.
Record-breaking levels of exploration activity are currently happening in the province, including around Flin Flon, and Foran Mining Corp. is well on its way towards starting a new copper mine about 65 kilometres west of Flin Flon in Saskatchewan.
“I think this is the perfect time to be doing something like this,” Fontaine said.
Peter Lee, Vancouver-based vice-president of franchise development for Wyndham Hotels and Resorts in Canada — where it has 490 properties — was in Flin Flon on Friday for the announcement.
“We believe Flin Flon is a great market for us, with untapped potential,” he said.
“I always believe if you build it they will come.”
Wyndham already has a few properties in northern Canada including in Whitehorse and Yellowknife.
A franchise agreement has been signed with the developers. Wyndham’s designers just need to see renderings and make sure that fits with the brand, Lee said.
The early plans are for the hotel to completed and open by the end of 2025.
martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca
Martin Cash
Reporter
Martin Cash has been writing a column and business news at the Free Press since 1989. Over those years he’s written through a number of business cycles and the rise and fall (and rise) in fortunes of many local businesses.
Read full biography
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