After the concession at Powell River Recreation Complex was closed due to health code violations, City of Powell River officials are looking to issue a request for proposals for new operators.
Dan Glover, Vancouver Coastal Health environmental health inspector, ordered the concession closed until it was cleaned up and passed another inspection.
The concession, run by Cleve Hamilton and operated as Planet Cleve, received four critical and two non-critical violations on Thursday, April 10.
In a letter to the Peak, Hamilton said at that point the facility had already been closed since the weekend due to illness.
He also described a long-running dispute with recreation complex management over the issue of the public bringing in outside food and non-paying customers using the concession’s supplies.
“Between tailgate parties and picnics in front of the counters, it’s hard to make a living,” he wrote. “Imagine you are running a concession that all day long, non-paying customers are grabbing napkins to clean themselves after chowing down someone else’s food, or taking ketchup, and creamers for their coffee because the other place didn’t make their coffee right. Welcome to my world, where it’s a free-for-all in and around the complex.”
Bill Reid, director of parks, recreation and culture for the city, said he had tried to explain to Hamilton that the recreation complex is a public facility and not the same as a privately-owned restaurant. Reid added, though, that he encourages people who book the facility to use the concession service.
“It’s not like walking into a restaurant,” said Reid. “It’s not that kind of service.”
He added that Glover had only discovered the concession had been left in a “filthy state” by accident when an annual inspection of the overhead fan system was conducted. “We had to open up the concession [for the inspection] to let him in and that’s when we came across it,” said Reid.
There had been a hockey tournament at the complex the weekend before and Reid said that it looked as if Hamilton had just left everything and not cleaned up. “There was cheese in the grater and a pound of butter left out on the counter,” said Reid. “The grill was unbelievable.”
Hamilton said he told Reid he had left the kitchen in that state because he had had “an emergency dental illness”, adding he would return in a few days to clean up.
After cleaning up the concession, he requested the health inspector return but never heard back.
He told Reid he would have the concession open for the final minor hockey tournament of the season and after that they could meet to discuss making changes to the lease.
Hamilton says he is grateful for the support he has received in operating the concession. “I’m so sad and sorry that it’s turned into this mess.”
