The District of West Vancouver has torn up the contract and evicted the operator who had been running the Larson Station restaurant and concession stand at the Gleneagles Community Centre.
Council voted to terminate the contract at a recent in-camera meeting on the advice of staff after months of negotiations with hospitality contractor Enzo Taffara. At issue was Taffara not meeting the minimum operating hours as required in the contract resulting in complaints from community centre patrons and golfers, according to Jeff McDonald, district spokesman.
"He generally was open from late morning or noon till early evening whereas the operating agreement and the posted hours required that he open basically as soon as the golf course was open," McDonald said. "The district is not happy to have taken this move and did so reluctantly, but it was necessary given that golfers at Gleneagles Golf Course and patrons of Gleneagles Community Centre were not receiving basic services that they expect, and contractual obligations were not being met despite our repeated requests that the operator meet those obligations."
Operating hours at the concession stand were even worse, McDonald said noting it had been opened once from Sept. 2 to Nov. 9 this year.
Reached for comment, Taffara stated in an email: "I am shocked and dismayed by the actions of the district and am currently seeking legal advice."
District staff will soon be issuing a request for proposals to find a new operator for the restaurant, which McDonald said will ideally be up and running by the spring of 2015.
Larson Station was still taking bookings for private events, which should be able to continue, McDonald said.
"Staff are doing what they can to secure the list of functions that are already booked and we've put measures in place for those functions to continue as planned with as few disruptions as possible," he said.
The concession stand should be open by next week, McDonald said.
