The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Jonathon Naylor Editor City council is being urged to consider the long-empty Flin Flon Hotel as a site for seniors housing. Area resident Jane Robillard made the suggestion in a letter council reviewed at their meeting last week. 'The old Flin Flon Hotel seems like a perfect place for senior units, both single and doubles,' she wrote. 'It is within walking distance of the clinic, hospital, pharmacy, and grocery store. There is room for a small restaurant and some other businesses on the ground floor. It just seems a shame to see that building sit and deteriorate on Main Street.' The former hotel has sat empty since its closure in 1999, despite numerous rumours of an imminent reopening. It is privately owned, so neither city council nor any other level of government will be able to determine what becomes of the building. Renovations Coun. Bill Hanson said the building would not be his first choice for seniors housing, in part because of the costly renovations that would be required. For one, the multi-storey building has no elevator. That upgrade alone, Coun. Hanson estimated, would cost $1 million. He said his preference would be for the building to reopen as a hotel, but if it were one of the few options for seniors housing available, he would consider it. Of course no seniors housing project will move forward without the support of either the NDP government, a deep-pocketed developer, or both. Flin Flon's most recent seniors complex, Evergreen Manor near the Aqua Centre, opened in 2008 through a partnership between the city, the province and a developer. The NDP rejected a 2012 proposal for another seniors housing complex overlooking Ross Lake. Coun. Hanson is hoping Flin Flon can secure more seniors housing within five years. But he said that will depend on the willingness of the province and/or an investor to get involved. In her letter, Robillard said she supports 'any initiative to secure some reasonable housing for seniors' in Flin Flon. 'There is little accommodation available that is suitable for an older couple who requires a two-bedroom apartment,' she wrote. 'There seems to be more available for singles as most of the housing is simply a one-bedroom unit. A building with an elevator is a must for seniors.' Added Robillard: 'A middle-income housing unit would be great and an asset to keeping retired folks here.' Coun. Hanson said he often fields ideas or concerns related to the empty former hotel, but he just tells people that it is not property of the city.
