The Prince George Legion building has been purchased by a local investment group, saving the venerable veterans' organization and putting it back on its financial feet again.
"It was the most amount of fun I've had in business, to sit in that room with their board, with such admirable people, and come to those agreements that will see the Legion carry on," said Vern Norbraten who, along with co-developer Art Collins and an undisclosed third party are spearheading the purchase. "I realized almost too late what the Legion really meant and I apologized to them for being late to that realization. I'm actually upset that it took so long for the [private sector] to step up to bat for them, considering it was these guys right in the room who gave us the free enterprise system, and the freedom to do business the way we all do."
The Legion needed to sell for about $600,000 in order to carry on as a service organization the way they have for more than 50 years in Prince George. The actual final figure was not disclosed, but both sides of the deal acknowledged that the buyers paid the asking price and then kicked in some more money besides to support the Legion.
What's more, the Norbraten-Collins group also gave the Legion a full year - rent free - to find another location.
"That year for free was just a wonderful thing to do, and the extra money they added on top of the asking price allowed us to operate again from a position above deficit," said John Scott, past president and the chair of the committee tasked to sell the building. "The cheque was delivered today [Friday]. It was such a big relief off our backs, especially for me chairing the committee and all the sleepless nights that came with that."
Scott said the Legion had plenty of heavy hitters trying to find them a solution. The City of Prince George and the Legion's neighbour Dan McLaren of the Commonwealth Group "did everything short of buy it themselves," he said, and MLA Shirley Bond "was a huge, huge help for us every step of the way and we can't say enough about how she stepped up to bat for us."
Months went by without a successful buyer emerging until the Norbraten-Collins group heard the pleas of real estate agents Ken Goss and George Weinand. The two agents facilitated meetings between the parties.
"When we heard the story of how challenged the Legion was, we [he and Collins] looked at each other and felt the motivation because on top of that, we think Prince George is about to see some long-term growth and we feel a lot of investment confidence in downtown Prince George," Norbraten said.
The investment group will also help the Legion acquire and settle into a new home, when a proper premises is found. Scott said the Legion has a liquor license to put to use. They would ideally like a family restaurant option as well so there is a revenue stream and public interaction for the group, plus space to hold meetings and Legion events. They had not begun a search for such a place, but are now in a position to consider their options.
