The County of Grande Prairie has found an operator to take over Five Mile Community Hall. Food Solutions Corporation has entered into a five-year operating lease agreement, at $55,000 a year.
Reeve Leanne Beaupre says since the initial search for potential new operators began in October 2019, councillors had been hoping to find a quick solution. She adds the new operators have already laid out a basic plan as to where they hope to take the building into the future.
“I think you’ll see a seamless transition in operations from the Agricultural Society to this contractor, they’ve made their wishes known that they want to run the hall as a catering facility and event centre.”
The need for a new leaseholder came off the back of former operators, the Five Mile Hall Ag Society, having difficulties keeping up the operation of the hall due to a lack of increasing membership numbers.
Beaupre adds the Five Mile Hall community at large has done its best in coming up with ways to keep the facility running smoothly over the years. She hopes the new operators will keep those successes going.
“They put a lot of heart and soul into the area, and into the hall, but there has been a fair amount of money invested by the County of Grande Prairie in upgrades to the hall, so it’s a very modernized community centre that serves the area well.”
In addition to the new hall operators, the transformation of the area should expand further in the coming years. The adjacent parcel of land has also been earmarked for a new school in the Peace Wapiti School Division.