As the community of Jasper continues to rebuild after last summer’s devastating wildfires, the owners of a popular business in the mountain town have hatched a plan to reopen in Alberta’s capital.
“Financially, and emotionally, we need to do this,” Wendy Leitch told Global News on Monday. Just weeks before Jasper was evacuated because of wildfires, she and her husband Glen had just celebrated the 20th anniversary of their opening the popular Patricia Street Deli.
“We need to get back open,” Wendy said. “We’ve been closed since July 22.”
The July fires in Jasper National Park forced thousands of people to flee the area and destroyed about 350 homes and businesses, according to local officials. Late last month, the Insurance Bureau of Canada provided a revised estimate on the total damage caused by the fires, noting that had increased to $1.23 billion from $880 million.
Wendy and Glen said they are still wrestling with some insurance issues after losing their business in the fire, but have decided to open a new chapter for their business in downtown Edmonton and are using an online platform to try to crowdfund the money they will need to do that.
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“(We are) inviting the people that love us to become part of the rebuild,” Wendy said. “Because the deli doesn’t just belong to us, it belongs to a lot of people.”
She added that she believes the wildfire had an impact on many people beyond those who live in the Rocky Mountains.
“Jasper doesn’t belong to just the community of Jasper, it belongs to everybody.”
Wendy and Glen said they plan to keep the Patricia Street Deli name and added that some former employees have expressed interest in being part of the business’ new era in Edmonton.
The couple said in December they ramped up their search for where they might like to reopen, and found a space that will be five times bigger than their Jasper location was.
“We’re going to start with everything we did, and then expand on that,” Glen explained, adding that he hopes they can reopen before the deli’s next anniversary, which is in July.
Glen and Wendy said reopening with the deli’s old traditions would not have been possible without the help of their children.
“We had a binder with all the recipes and pictures of all our product. But that was gone,” he said as he spoke about the aftermath of the fire. “So if it wasn’t for the foresight of our kids, copying all of it and putting it on the cloud, without the recipes, it would have been really difficult.”
Glen and Wendy said it has been quite a transition as the two of them had planned to retire in Jasper.
“A lot of people are asking, ‘When are you moving back?’” Glen said. “We’re telling them, ‘We’re not moving back, (but) we may someday put a deli back in (Jasper).”
Wendy said while her family is excited about the new plan for the deli, she and Glen are “still in the grief” of how the fires uprooted their lives.
“We’ve been on an adventure,” she said.
Glen said he believes the Patricia Street Deli will once again connect with the family’s beloved customers, even if it is located over 350 kilometres away from its original location.
“Before you even make a sandwich, it’s how you’re treated,” he said. “And that’s what I will remember about our patrons and what we did.
“We’re very proud of the brand.”
–With files from Erik Bay, Global News
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