A new culinary and hospitality training centre proposed for a long-vacant commercial space in Whistler Village would further the resort’s status as a culinary destination and serve the needs of the local restaurant and hospitality sectors, proponents say.
On Friday, Nov. 8, resort restaurateurs, chefs, and hoteliers got their first glimpse at the concept behind the Whistler Culinary and Hospitality Institute and the Whistler Culinary & Experience HUB, a project years in the making spearheaded by the Whistler Institute, in conjunction with Vancouver Community College (VCC).
“For six, seven years, [Whistler Institute board chair] Sue Adams and I have been musing about why there is no cooking school in Whistler,” said Dr. Stephen Milstein, director at the Whistler Institute. “This really got sparked to happen when we were meeting with [Chief] Dean Nelson from Lil’wat about how we could get their people involved in working in Whistler. He just looked at me and said, ‘culinary.’”
The institute is proposed for the vacant underground space where the Village 8 Cinemas used to operate until the theatre closed in early 2023, as well as the adjacent former AlpenRock space that has sat vacant for years. The 4,500-square-foot institute would house two fully equipped training kitchens with 20 workstations each, classrooms capable of accommodating up to 32 students each, and additional, adaptable spaces designed to host culinary demonstrations, guest lectures, industry seminars, and community events.
“It’s really a multi-purpose space we can use for education and the community can use for events,” explained Dennis Innes, dean of hospitality at VCC, which will be contracted to deliver educational programming.
Proponents said the institute would offer a range of educational courses meant to fit local industry needs. That could include pre-season skills training, youth trades training, apprenticeship courses, a six-month intensive culinary diploma course, and the seven-month Professional Cook 1 Indigenous Content course.
“This is a program that is growing across the province, and for Indigenous communities, there’s a lot of wraparound services available, like daycare, a daily allowance for food and transportation,” Innes said. “It involves mentors, Indigenous elders. It’s a comprehensive program that’s proving to be very successful for Indigenous students.”
The institute is aimed at cementing Whistler as a destination for aspiring chefs and hotel staff, as well as assisting local businesses in recruiting and retaining employees.
“You don’t want to keep recruiting and retraining staff. You want to up the quality of the people you have. You want them here committed,” said Milstein, addressing attendees at Legends in Creekside. “We believe that this will get people who enjoy creating food and running hospitality for people. We’re going to have a program that will draw them to come here because it’s going to advance their individual needs.”
The intensive diploma course could also involve students working in local kitchens as part of the curriculum.
“It is important students are getting a good breadth of training while they’re in the kitchen so when they come back the next week, they’re actually practicing what they’re learning,” said Innes.
The aim, proponents said, is to work with industry leaders to shape the institute’s educational offerings.
“You’re here to help design these programs,” said Milstein. “We have a broad, wide ability to provide you with what you need, whether it’s butchering, whether it’s baking, whatever it is … The goal is to assist industry in meeting your goals.”
Ideally, the facility would double as an event space, which would serve a key tourism need.
“We’ve done some research of just what themes would draw visitor interest, and the No. 1 theme, no surprise, is culinary experiences,” said Barrett Fisher, president and CEO of Tourism Whistler. “A cooking school, chef showcases, wine pairings and tastings, educational seminars, all of those would dovetail into that.”
Second-floor office space above the training centre could accommodate up to 20 dormitory beds for students, which would require rezoning, according to Larco Investments, owner of the proposed space.
“I’m not opposed but the devil is always in the details. Whenever someone says we’ve got 20 beds, that picks up our interest,” said Councillor Ralph Forsyth at Friday’s meeting.
One of Canada’s largest private real estate firms, Larco has kept the former AlpenRock space vacant for more than 20 years, despite fielding numerous proposals. With Village 8 gone, Larco now has 30,000 feet of contiguous space in the heart of Whistler Village, giving the company the opportunity to be “very imaginative with the space,” said VP of development Rick Amantea, adding Larco will consider other offers if they make economic sense.
“If somebody came to us tomorrow and said we’re going to take that entire chunk of real estate and do X, Y, Z with it, that would be great,” he said. “There’s lots of interest, but it may be better suited for one tenant to come in and lease the whole space and then figure out how all these components would fit together, as opposed to us doing it.”
Proponents now turn their sights to raising funds for the estimated $6.5-million project. Milstein said they would take a multipronged approach, seeking government and foundation grants, private and corporate sponsorship, and strategic partnerships with industry associations, educational bodies, and community groups.
“We raised $7 million for Millennium Place 24 years ago,” he said, referring to the building today known as the Maury Young Arts Centre. “This town is a lot richer today. Do we know we have work to do? Do we think it’s an easy walk? Of course not … But we do believe we have the potential to raise these funds to capitalize this building and this project.”
Milstein added proponents are currently looking for a guarantor for the project’s lease.
