The Coast Inn of the West and the Best Western Terrace Inn are getting their restaurants ready to be open for business.
Beasley’s in the Best Western will be opening May 2, while the restaurant in the Coast is expected to be opening a few weeks after that.
Amin Sunderji, one of the owners of the Coast and Best Western, said there has been lots of talk about major development projects in the area going through so the owners want the hotels to be ready to meet demand.
“(We’re) getting ready for the economic boom coming to Terrace, and seizing on that opportunity,” he said of the move to reopen the restaurants.
“We’re very hopeful with all the talk, we’re very positive.”
The restaurants and catering services closed down last May due to slow economic times.
According to union representatives at the time, 18 unionized Coast restaurant employees lost their jobs; under the union’s collective agreement, members had six months of guaranteed recall rights, but the restaurant has been closed for almost a year.
“It was a tough decision to make but we had to do what we had to do,” Sunderji said in terms of shutting down the Coast restaurant last May.
The Best Western had also reduced its operations due to the local economy but kept its catering and banquet services going. It’s now hosting events like conferences and meetings in Gators downstairs.
The openings will see the hotels employing around 25 employees at the Coast and 12 in the Best Western in the way of servers and cooks who’ll be receiving union wages and benefits.
The Coast will also be resuming its catering and banquet services that had stopped when it closed last year.
