Jasper continues to travel down the slow road to normalcy, with more local businesses including restaurants starting to reopen.
When re-entry began in mid-August, the Jasper Royal Canadian Legion, “The Stand Easy” was the only location in the townsite that could act for food service.
“It was rewarding, but tiring, but my heart just feels so amazing, knowing that I could do this and get in here and take care of everybody,” said Legion manager, Sue Henderson. “Seeing all the people coming in getting food, it was just like, ‘Well, at least I'm feeding somebody.’”
The Legion provided free meals to residents, first responders and workers – some days seeing 1,000 people. These free meals were made possible by donations, and the Lion’s Club helped serve meals.
After weeks of being a community hub, the Legion winded down its free meal service on Labour Day weekend. This comes as more restaurants begin to reopen and residents get new fridges and freezers.
The Legion is back to its regular schedule and meals but is still offering some free food to first responders and Team Rubicon. It is also housing Team Rubicon and the Jasper Local Food Bank in its back rooms.
“We’re still trying to make sure our community is taken care of,” Henderson said. “If anybody comes in, they lost a house or they just want to talk, we're still here for them.”
Like other restaurateurs, Henderson is facing a drop in revenue due to a lack of visitors and would have to rely exclusively on locals.
“We’re Jasper, we’re tourism, and if we don't have the tourism, where are we going to be?” she asked.
SnowDome Coffee Bar resumed operations two-and-a-half weeks ago. Owner Shelley Koebel has also reopened Coin Clean Laundry at the same location, and Andromeda Café on the floor above will reopen in a few days.
“We were fortunate to be one of the first customers of one of the cleaning crews, and we had a team of probably 20 people that came in for about four days,” Koebel said.
She noted that they had a team of 15 staff pre-wildfire, but with five of them losing their homes and others being seasonal workers who found other jobs in other communities such as Banff or Revelstoke, only five staff members have been able to return.
In terms of customers, Koebel reported seeing “a really interesting cross-section of people,” including returning locals, first responders and workers who have been assisting with recovery and clean-up.
Koebel is uncertain about the future. She was concerned about the lack of tourism and the large fire loss across the street.
“Twenty businesses have been destroyed or damaged on Patricia Street, and that means for us that we lose those people who are customers,” she said. “A lot of the shop owners and their team members would be our customers, but it also means there’s less for people to do when they’re downtown. They’re not going to be able to round out their day as much.”
She added how it had been a challenging couple of years because of COVID, the Chetamon wildfire and now the Jasper Wildfire Complex.
“We just are really grateful for the community that comes for a cup of coffee every day or to do their laundry, and Jasper is a strong community,” she said. “We’re kind of shortened now; we don't have as many people, so I just hope that we can, as a business community, keep it together to weather the next few years of building and recovery.”
Stuart Back, chief operating officer of Banff Jasper Collection by Pursuit, said they were working to get their restaurants ready.
Crazy Elk Café at Lobstick Lodge recently opened, and Pursuit plans to open its remaining restaurants in a staged manner.
“Restaurants are the most work. They’re a lot of work to get cleaned up and get back open,” Back said. “But our team’s very focused.”
Back added that reopening hotels would be essential for restaurants that rely on the visitor economy.
“We’re certainly beginning to hear the inquiries and requests from other businesses in town who are getting ready to try and reopen,” he said.
Although more trails, day-use areas and businesses have reopened in recent days, sections of the park and town remain closed. Visit Parks Canada’s website for more information on closure areas. A list of open businesses can be found on the municipality’s website.
