The Quatsino Chalet, along with the parking lot in front of it, has been “sold” in a municipal tax sale on Oct. 7.
In a tax sale a property is put up for auction when taxes are in arrears for three years. After a successful bid, however, the original owner still maintains ownership of the property for a redemption period of one year. During that time the owner can pay all the taxes owing and retain possession of their property. There is no transfer of ownership until the redemption period has expired. If the taxes are paid, the sale is cancelled.
The hotel and parking lot were sold separately but bought by the same person. There were no bidders for the annex, so the Village of Port Alice has been declared the purchaser. When asked if the Village has made any preliminary plans for the annex, Village CAO/CFO Bonnie Danyk stated, “Its pointless at this time to speculate what to do with the buildings as they could very likely remain in the possession of the Quatsino Chalet.”
Although owners can sometimes go through the tax sale process several times, according to Danyk, this is the first time that the Quatsino Chalet holdings have been in a tax sale since she has been working for the Village of Port Alice.
On Port Alice News and Views, a Facebook group popular with residents, most reacted to news of the sale with expressions of nostalgia.
Tracy Piniewski calls the Quastsino Chalet “a piece of PA history.” All of her family worked there, except for her father who “spent a lot of time drinking coffee with the boys.” She added, “It was a fancy hotel back in the day…one of the Delta Hotels if I’m not mistaken.” She remembers taking swimming lessons at the hotel pool and even almost drowning in it. She said it used to be a hangout for youth, “eating fries and gravy and drinking swamp water” after school and “standing in line for bootleggers every weekend.” She added, “the hotel was busy…great memories…such a sad state of affairs now.”
Monique Andrews claims that there is “a lot of history in that place.” She adds, “I remember working there, the stories about the ghosts that wandered around during the night.”
Marion Dawes stated that she worked there for a while and “saw some creepy stuff.”
Daniel Bisson remembers “playing pool with a beer or two,” smoking in a public place “that doesn’t happen anymore,” cigarettes for sale in the lobby at 55 cents a pack and penny matches.
Mary-Anne Hyacinthe says she lived in the annex for a year or more. She “drank beer and danced on tables, had many a meal in [the] restaurant…OH…the tales those WALLS could tell!”
Christina Glover has fond memories of swimming with her friends in the hotel pool and having breakfast with her dad when he lived in the annex. She has always imagined that one day she’d go back with her band and play in the pub.
Jodi Leigh Hall hopes that the property will be developed into a long-term care or assisted living facility “for our seniors,” but also, so she could go back to her career.
Kimberly Chabot of Yreka Cleaning says, “Club Q! What a lucky opportunity! I’ll be ready when you are secret investors… you’ll need all the help you can get with that mess… but nothing is impossible.”
Drew Frank says he hopes that the new owners will level the whole thing and start from scratch.
John Alexander Smith asked about a rumoured new oceanfront resort coming to Port Alice and if it will have some competition now because of the Quatsino Chalet sale. This is a possibility. Bonnie Danyk confirmed that they have an offer on the property beside Lion’s Park and are presently “working through the subjects.”
