Lethbridge’s Water Tower Grill will be shuttered later this week after 15 months of serving the city.
The news of the closure was delivered to staff and the public just days before the restaurant will close its doors permanently.
“I found out on an email on Tuesday, that we would be closing after service on Friday,” said Presley Kutsch, an employee at the restaurant.
The business is owned by Calgary-based Vintage Group and opened in 2018 after renovations to the iconic space were completed.
At the time it was hoped the business venture would breathe new life into the historic building.
However, Vintage Group president Lance Hurtubise said the restaurant has faced financial challenges since the beginning.
“We had been open for about 15 months and we had never turned a profit,” Hertubise said.
“We had our year end on Oct. 1, and decided not to continue.”
“The problem was we became a tourist spot… and we just weren’t getting the locals in. We were considered high-end and it just didn’t work.”
Despite financial hardships, some staff members believe the owners didn’t do enough to stop the impending closure.
Olivia Adams, a full-time employee at the Water Tower Grill, said she believes the owners could have spent more time researching the needs of the Lethbridge market.
“We were a Lethbridge restaurant with Calgary standards,” she said.
“We had Calgary pricing… when we needed to get on the Lethbridge level of just pub food and regular food, not high-end.”
Adams added that the restaurant lacked guidance from upper management and could have been more successful.
“We had amazing deals, our lounge prices were great, but no one knew about them,” she said.
“If we had better advertising, then I guarantee we could have stayed open.”
Staff at the restaurant said that besides the initial email from human resources on Tuesday, they haven’t had any further contact with owners on the closure, and have been left to deal with the fallout.
“People have booked Christmas parties and they all have to get cancelled because we’re not going to be open anymore,” said Jordan Paiha, an employee that has been with the restaurant since it opened.
“We have people who have booked in here for meals, calling us, like, ‘Hey, what’s happening, and what will happen to our bookings?’”
Paiha said many unused gift cards have also beensold. Hurtubise said those customers will not lose out as the cards are redeemable at all Vintage Group restaurants in Calgary.
There’s no word yet on future plans for the historic water tower, however, staff are still holding out hope for new life to be breathed into their restaurant.
“We’re going to see if some new ownership can step in,” Adams said.
“Hopefully we can get something going because all the staff here is so committed to the place. Everybody has been here for so long, we’re just a big family that we’d like to stay that way.”