A Christmas tree will go up where the Alder Inn used to stand in Aldergrove.
On Monday, councillors Bob Long and Petrina Arnason convinced a majority of Langley Township council to fund the tree, which will go up behind the protective fencing that surrounds the site where the hotel was demolished in November.
Arnason, who Long credits with having the idea for the tree in the first place, said she hoped it would “lighten it [the demolition site] up and make it look festive.”
Township plans call for using the land for “community use,” Arnason noted.
Long said the goal was “shining a light in these somewhat dark times.”
Before they came to council, the pair had already lined up a 27-foot Norwegian Spruce from an Abbotsford tree farm at the bargain price of $200.
READ ALSO: VIDEO: Ultimate Christmas light display returns to Langley street
Council voted to approve spending no more than $5,000 from the municipal contingency fund to purchase a tree and set it up with lights.
“We’re hoping staff can do it as soon as possible,” Long said.
Coun. Margaret Kunst voted against the proposal, saying other Township communities like Fort Langley and Brookswood put up Christmas trees without requiring Township funding.
Kunst stressed she wasn’t “anti-Christmas.”
“We have five communities [in the Township],” she noted.
“Some think Murrayville should have a tree.”
READ MORE: PHOTO & VIDEO: Alder Inn brought to the ground
The fire-damaged inn located at the southeast corner of Fraser Highway and 272nd Street was torn down on Monday, Nov. 16.
Cost of demolition was estimated at around $250,000.
The Inn, which housed a bar, a liquor store, hotel rooms, and Langley’s last strip club, had been in operation since 1948 and shut it’s doors in June of 2019.
The municipality spent $5.4-million to purchase the hotel as well as two neighbouring lots.
No decision has been made on what will be built on the site.
dan.ferguson@langleyadvancetimes.comLike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter
