Peepeekisis Cree Nation (PCN) has completed a year-long process of fully acquiring Temple Gardens Hotel & Spa in Moose Jaw. The hotel and its mineral pool and spa are an iconic part of the city's downtown, and Peepeekisis plans to continue that legacy.
The sale went through on Aug. 31 at 5 p.m., while Sept. 1 was the first full day of ownership by Peepeekisis.
Morris Interactive in Saskatoon and Morguard Corporation out of Mississauga helped to broker the sale, acting as agents for PCN.
The PCN is currently conducting band elections, but leadership have promised to provide comment on the sale and future of the property as soon as they are able.
PCN now owns the hotel, the mineral spa, the walkway connecting the facility to Casino Moose Jaw, part of the Casino building, and three associated parking lots.
Sparrow Hawk Developments — PCN’s off-reserve economic corporation — has hired Globex Property Management in Saskatoon to oversee all operational functions of the property.
MooseJawToday.com spoke with Globex CEO Jaret Waddell to discuss plans for development and renovation of the property.
“We feel very fortunate to have been entrusted with the responsibility of managing the Temple Gardens for Peepeekisis,” Waddell said. “We’re also quite fortunate that there is a strong team at that hotel that have done a phenomenal job of working through not only all of the regular industry challenges that came from COVID-19, but also just a very busy property.”
Waddell noted that the property has begun to age and needs investment, but the Temple Gardens Hotel & Spa team continued to operate it with service excellence and Saskatchewan hospitality in mind.
“It’s an absolutely top-notch operation, so we’re pleased to be able to come into that environment and have such a strong team to work with.”
Waddell confirmed there are no plans for any changes to staffing or management at Temple Gardens.
Work has already begun to modernize much of the aging equipment that Globex and Peepeekisis identified as being immediate priorities.
“We are replacing some back-of-the-house things like ice machines, there’s an RFID card lock system that will be replaced straightaway, the front desk computer system, really all of the computers in the building, those will all be done,” Waddell said.
In addition, PCN and Globex have hinted at big plans for 2023.
“We’re not able to talk much about (major renovations) until we get formal approval from the owner. That process is likely going to take through to the end of this month. Once the plan and some of the details associated with it is formally approved, there’ll be more information we can talk about.”
