The Kingsway branch of the Royal Canadian Legion in northeast Edmonton is a large facility supported by nearly 1,100 members. But the branch’s president says the cost of running it, coupled with there being a lack of events that can bring in sufficient revenue, means he and all those members need to consider options to sustain the chapter of the veterans’ organization.
“I find it’s too big for what we’re getting value for,” Richard Etmanski told Global News on Tuesday, adding that when the facility opened about 13 years ago, it “was busy all the time.”
Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, forcing people to stay home.
“It’s taken a long time to rebuild,” Etmanski said, before explaining that the cost-of-living crisis has now taken its toll on the legion’s rebound from the pandemic.
“Ninety per cent of our clientele are seniors, so a lot of them are living on fixed incomes. And the price of everything has gone — (it’s) skyrocketing. People are really picking and choosing where they’re going and how they’re spending their money.”
The legion’s costs have become harder to keep up with as well, Etmanski noted, explaining that taxes, mortgage payments and utility costs have become more difficult to manage, especially as the legion struggles to bring in younger Edmontonians to make use of it.
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“There are so many other venues out there and a lot of the younger people seem to think this is just an old boys’ club — just old guys telling war stories,” he said. “Which is very far from the truth.”
A special meeting has been scheduled for July 29 where Etmanski plans to put forward a motion to members to be given the authority to pursue the sale of the property the legion currently occupies and to buy a smaller property.
Etmanski said while he supports the idea of selling the larger facility in favour of purchasing a smaller one, the legion could also consider trying to lease out half the building.
He said a sale could potentially result in more money in the bank, making it easier to keep up with the cost of running even a smaller facility.
“We’re still making ends meet but eventually it will catch up and the last thing we want to do is lose this building to the bank,” Etmanski said.
Bill O’Brien, 86, is a member of the legion who said he lives close by and spends a lot of time at the facility “doing all kinds of odd jobs.”
“I have mixed feelings,” he said when asked about what he thinks of potentially selling the building and relocating to a different space. “I would like to see us hire a business manager. I think maybe we could recover but without that we’re doomed.”
Like Etmanski, O’Brien said he believes the legion struggles to entice younger people to use the facility because they view it as an old boys’ club.
“We’d like to see younger people come,” he acknowledged. “That’s what we need.
“I don’t know where the people went. We miss them.”
Etmanski, who was voted in as the Kingsway branch’s president in the fall, said that despite the legion’s robust membership numbers, monthly general meetings normally see fewer than 50 people turn up. When special events are held at the legion, about 200 people normally attend.
In his last newsletter to members, Etmanski described the Kingsway legion as being embroiled in an “endless battle to keep the branch afloat.”
–with files from Jasmine King, Global News
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