Back in 2018, the Royal Canadian Legion – Esquimalt Dockyard Branch 172 had to close its doors because they sold the property to a developer.
In that deal, they were promised a brand new, state-of-the art space that they would own in perpetuity.
So for six years, the veterans and members of the Esquimalt legion had to do without their usual meeting place and watering hole.
Now, however, Executive Committee member Chris Perry says they have the most modern legion in all of Canada.
“We’ve been in Esquimalt since 1944,” said Perry while talking about the history of the legion.
He says that in 1972, the legion moved to the site which was torn down in 2018 located at 622 Admirals Road, the current location.
On Wednesday, April 24th, they opened their doors to members and guests once again.
Perry says that the old legion was around 20,000 square feet whereas the new space is approximately 5,000 square feet with a maximum capacity of 140 people.
He says that the two-floor space was just too big to maintain before and in the winter, the building’s heating system had difficulty keeping it at a comfortable temperature.
“It’s a very modern look,” he explained.
“We have six dart boards, we will have a shuffleboard table this week, but no pool table. Our membership voted against having a pool table because we’re smaller than we used to be.”
In addition to the brand new dart boards set up by the front windows, the space features a projector screen they will use for events and to show sporting events, they have a myriad of new televisions and a fully stacked bar loaded with snacks.
They also have sound equipment and a space dedicated to having bands play or to host other performances which Perry was excited for.
“We had 75 to 80 people in there on Friday, we had a band to test out the PA system,” said Perry.
There are more bands and events scheduled to come in too with music bingo taking place on Friday, May 3rd at 6 p.m. and a band called OTR playing on Saturday, May 4th at 7 p.m.
As of this publication, Perry says that the executive committee is still planning how and when to execute their grand re-opening event, but says it shouldn’t be much longer now that the committee and staff are getting used to the space.
He also added that this space is a bit different than the old one because of the way they are licensed.
“We went from a club license to a liquor primary license,” Perry explained.
“So with the liquor primary, anyone can come in and guests don’t need to be signed in, whereas with a club primary, guests have to sign in and you can only have so many at any given time.”
He says the hope in changing the license is that more people will come in and see what they have to offer and will want to buy a membership.
Membership does come with its perks, giving a discount on all food and beverage as well as discounts on events.
A year membership costs $60 and people can apply either in person at the legion or online.
