Esquimalt鈥檚 long wait for a pub will soon be over.
With a tax holiday on the horizon, the owners of the Tudor House Liquor Store at the corner of Admirals and Esquimalt roads have committed to building a 500-seat Irish pub and have it up and running by the spring of 2021.
After Esquimalt council voted unanimously Monday night to approve a revitalization tax exemption for the lot at 533 Admirals Rd., the Dumas family posted on Facebook that they are committed to building the project.
鈥淎fter council鈥檚 decision in last night鈥檚 meeting, we are very excited to announce that we will be building a 500-seat authentic Irish pub. The pub will include family friendly areas, in order to welcome the entire community,鈥� wrote owners Marta and Bernie Dumas. 鈥淚f all goes well, opening date will be March 2021 (in time for St. Patrick鈥檚 day)!鈥�
Esquimalt Mayor Barb Desjardins said everyone seems to be excited about the prospect of once again having a pub on the site.
It was home to the 109-year-old Tudor House Pub before it burned to the ground in 2013.
鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 seem to matter what comes forward [to council], the question always comes: 鈥榃hen will we have a pub?鈥櫬犫�� Desjardins said, noting there is a lot of excitement about the Dumas family once again getting into the pub game.
鈥淲e鈥檙e excited they have put a date down ... the community is ecstatic,鈥� she said.
The pub has been a long time coming. Desjardins said she understands the Dumas family has been sitting on plans for a while until they could get a tax break.
She said the plan appeared to be to establish the liquor store first and hope its success would help fuel the second phase of development 鈥� the pub.
Desjardins said because of the increase in property taxes with the new liquor store, that plan was held back.
Cue Esquimalt鈥檚 revitalization tax exemption.
The bylaw was created to encourage business owners to beautify the municipality with exterior upgrades and rebuilds, preserve heritage and create a welcoming environment in order to attract new businesses and new residential property owners.
The program offered tax exemptions of up to 10 years 鈥� 100 per cent of the increased assessed value in the first five years, 75 per cent in years six through eight and 50 per cent in the last two years.
鈥淭he idea was to add more vitality to our streets and more聽community space,鈥� said Desjardins.
