The land on which the historic Hansen’s Hotel came to a dramatic end in a fire on May 1, 2010, is now for sale. Lynette Hansen, owner of the former hotel, said she will not rebuild or purchase another business in St. Paul because she is “very disappointed with the community.”
The family worked very hard to clean up the hotel, paint and renovate the hotel, she said.
“We not only owned the building, we worked it,” said Hansen.
They donated thousands of dollars to local sports teams, hired local contractors and tried to shop local whenever possible, Hansen said. However, when their business was destroyed, Hansen felt very little support coming back.
“You feel like you are part of a community, then something like this happens, it’s a rude reality check,” she said.
The family did receive a few messages and support from individual families in St. Paul but Hansen thought the community, as a whole, should have shown more concern and caring. The town rallied to support the community of Slave Lake after the town was damaged by fire but didn’t show the same generous spirit when the Hansen’s Hotel burned down, Hansen said.
The night of the fire was only the beginning of the nightmare for the Hansen family. They were shocked to hear Zeidan Salam Ammar, a man who called them friends and leased space in the hotel for his restaurant Jack’s Place, was charged with arson. The legal process has been frustratingly slow, with many delays according to Hansen. She is not able to speak with Ammar to ask questions while court processes are ongoing, she said.
“We don’t even know all of the evidence the RCMP have collected,” said Hansen, but added the officer in charge of the investigation does contact them regularly to keep them informed of progress in the case.
She expects her children, who were in the hotel at the time of the fire, will one day be called to testify in court. She said it will be difficult for them to have to relive the events.
Hansen is still struggling to collect all of the insurance money. They collected enough to pay the outstanding balance on the mortgage and to cover the cost of the VLT machines that were damaged in the fire. The insurance company wants to see receipts and invoices, many of which burned in the fire.
She said Ammar’s insurance will not pay out because of the arson charges so they will have to go after him directly to collect money, which she believes will be a long legal process.
She said if she does rebuild or invest in another business, it will likely be in Edmonton where she feels there is more support and backing.
