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City changes George Little House managers

After 17 years, Debbie Letawski will be vacating the premises
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The City of Terrace has chosen a new manager for the George Little House, ending a relationship with the current manager, Debbie Letawski, that dates back to 2006.

The owners of the Fix coffee and bike repair shop on the Southside are scheduled to move in the end of July after Letawski moves out her collection of historical and cultural artifacts highlighting the history and art of the area as well as the role Little played in the founding of Terrace.

The building is named after Little because it was his house in Terrace, first on Lakelse Ave. on the spot now occupied by the banquet room of the Days Inn. It was moved to Hall St. behind Totem Ford and then, after it was donated to the city in 2005 by the Ksan Society, moved to its current location at the foot of Kalum, and placed on a foundation.

“I loved it. I did it, not for the money, but for Terrace,” said Letawski, reflecting on her years of being connected to the building.

City officials and Letawski agreed to a series of rolling three-year contracts over the years but that stopped this year when the decision was made to ask for requests for proposals, said city communications official Tyler Clarke.

Letawski said she was caught by surprise when the request for proposals was issued and but did file one with the city.

“In January, [city] council directed staff to review the operating agreement and put it out for competitive bid,” said Clarke.

Clarke said the dollar value of the Fix contract has not been decided.

Letawski said her last contract was in the $100,000 range, paying her $114 less than her first arrangement with the city.

Letawski’s duties included hiring staff to take care of the outside of the building and to run a retail/tourist information spot inside.

She was also responsible for a space at the back of the house that served as a waiting room for VIA rail passengers, a task that sometimes required a commitment to be at the building for long periods of time if the train was late. VIA pays a lease to the city and the manager’s job to maintain the waiting room is then folded in the managerial contract with the city.

“The kitchen in the building is just not suitable for a food service, so the events we had, we would bring food in,” Letawski said.

One of her first moves was to stage Founder’s Day, an annual tea marking the early March period when Little walked up the Kitimat Valley to the area that eventually became Terrace. Relatives of Little to this day gather at the building to note his arrival.

Over the years the top floor has been rented out as offices and the basement has housed carvers, artists and a bike repair shop.

Letawski said she willingly embraced the various tasks that surfaced when the George Little House opened in 2006. It once hosted art walks and, on Sundays, a flea market.

“I just wish they would come to me and explain what they are doing,” she said of the city council’s decision to put the running of the building out to tender.

“If that’s the way it is, that’s the way it is,” Letawski said.

Clarke said the city was looking for someone who could fulfill obligations to VIA and to follow the city’s vision for the downtown area.

According to the City of Terrace’s Official Community Plan provided by Clarke, “having a vibrant, safe, pedestrian friendly downtown is an important component of every community. Great downtowns support small businesses and can help to attract new residents and tourism. A city’s downtown is vital to the success of the local economy and enhancement of business, social, cultural, government and residential activities.”

“Respondents must demonstrate and describe how they will position the building and property as a community and/or tourist asset.”

Letawski said that while there were many good things that happened over the years, growing public disorder in the downtown core brought break ins, thefts, an arson attempt, blowing garbage, drug use around the house and, every Christmas, thefts of lights.

And because it is adjacent to CN’s railyard, Letawksi also has had to deal with people breaking through CN’s fence and crossing through between rail cars in an attempt to get to the Southside.

“The city is very grateful to the current operator for their passion and dedication to the management of the George Little House over the past many years,” said Clarke.