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Wildcat Cafe opens at last Big turnout for ribbon-cutting ceremony
Candace Thomson
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, June 19, 2013
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
After a long two years of renovations the Wildcat Cafe is finally ready to open.
Mayor Mark Heyck cuts the ribbon at the Wildcat Cafe's reopening ceremony on Sunday. - Candace Thomson/NNSL photo |
A crowd of at least 100 people showed up at the historic restaurant in Old Town on Sunday to witness the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Wildcat advisory committee chairperson Kristen Luce opened the ceremony by thanking Yellowknifers for their patience.
"We wanted to take the opportunity to thank all the people involved in getting us where we are today, especially the city workers for all the work they did to make sure we'd be ready to open this summer, and to the public for being patient and waiting the extra year for the work to be done," said Luce.
Mayor Mark Heyck cut the ribbon to declare the city-owned cafe open and welcomed spectators to sample appetizers of char on crackers or a dessert of carrot cake with cream cheese icing.
He said he was glad to finally be able to answer the oft-repeated question: when will the Wildcat finally open?
"We have a time now, and that time is today," Heyck said.
Heyck expressly thanked contractor Rick Muyres for his dedication, saying without his skill set and hard work the Wildcat might have never reopened. The city fired Muyres in April after expressing concerns that the meticulous log building specialist from Norman Wells wouldn't get the job done on time to salvage the season, having already lost last summer when it was due to reopen.
He said the city is very excited to have chef Luke Wood running the restaurant and that he anticipates Wood adding new flavours to the menu.
A new patio completed as part of the renovation was also mentioned in his speech.
"Even more people will be able to enjoy it this summer and into the future because of the patio," Heyck said. "Generations for decades to come will be able to enjoy it."
The new deck increases the Wildcat's seating capacity to 76 from 50 before the renovations.
The mayor estimated the final price tag on the new and improved cafe will be at least 10 to 15 per cent over the council-approved budget of $525,000. He said the final tally won't be available until the first week of July.
The Wildcat Cafe is the oldest operating restaurant in Yellowknife. It was opened for business in 1937 by Willie Wylie and Smokey Stout on the same location the renovated log building stands today. After Yellowknife began to grow as a city, the cafe closed in 1951 but was saved from demolition by a group of residents in the late 1970s.
The Old Stope Association took over ownership and transformed it into a heritage site.
In 1979, the Wildcat reopened as a restaurant and continued its summer season until the city decided to begin renovations in 2011, due to the unsteady foundation the building stood on.
During his speech, Heyck commended the spirit of the cafe.
"If you believe that a building can have spirit, the Wildcat is one of those buildings," he said. "It has a resilient spirit."
He said the eatery is an important part of Yellowknife and Canadian history as a whole.
"It reminds us, I think, of the humble beginnings of this community," he said. "And it's found its way into the Canadian heritage story."
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