Following a poorly attended meeting to determine the fate of the Royal Canadian Legion Branch #260-100 Mile House on June 25, disgruntled Legion president Bob Wangensteen says the executive is locking the doors on July 31.
"We had this real important meeting, and out of 375 members, 58 showed up. How do you build a place up on that kind of inclusion?"
Wangensteen says it was very disappointing.
"No, we're not looking at a new facility. We're out of money."
Unless the Legion BC/Yukon Command comes in and rescues us or something, Wangensteen says he's not sure what will happen to the Legion.
"We can't pay our bills now as it is, so there's no point running up another month's worth of bills."
He says they have contacted Command about the problem, but there are communication problems. The last he heard was a representative would be coming up next week to look at the issue.
"Someone was supposed to be here two weeks ago and now it's next week. Like I say, I'm not going to sit around and wait for them.
"I am going to put a lock on the door unless somebody comes up with a way to save it."
We want to hear what Command is going to do to save the local Legion, Wangensteen says, adding it can make interest-free loans.
"They will have their financial people come in first to see where the problem is and they could run it for a year to see if they can make any changes. If they can't, they'll just shut her down."
Wangensteen says the Legion building is a "white elephant" and they need to get rid of it.
"Myself, I would like to tear the building down and then have one that goes the length of the property and put about six or eight units of housing in the back of it for veterans and seniors, and then have a small Legion up front.
"The housing would support the Legion, but you have to have money to do that."
Right now, Wangensteen says the building is "just killing us."
Everything is so old; you can't get parts for anything; and no one remembers how it was done, he explains.
"Every time something breaks and it's a major part, and it costs around $3,000 to $10,000 to fix it."
The local Legion just celebrated its 50th anniversary on June 6 and Wangensteen says it's really sad for all of the people who sunk their time and effort into building this place up to have it just go by the wayside.
"It's just a slap in the face."
If the local Legion closes, Wangensteen says it won't only be the veterans and staff members who suffer.
"It will be the local cadet corps, which we sponsor, and all of the school students we support – school meals programs and special needs equipment – who will suffer, too.
The club president says he went back through the records to 2002 when the Legion gave out $2,000 in donations. He adds the donations have increased steadily, and last year, they handed out $16,000.
As it stands now, Wangensteen says they will lock the doors on July 31, and get the $6,000 bond they had to put up at the liquor store refunded. Then, he adds they will pay off the staff and as many bills as they can.
As for delaying the closure at the end of the month, he says it's up to the Legion BC/Yukon Command.
"If they say don't lock the doors, we won't lock the door, but they have to let's us know before the end of the month."