The Wildcat Caf茅 might make a comeback this summer after Covid-19 cancelled its 2020 season.

, a designated heritage site, are posted on the City of Yellowknife's bids and tenders portal and will close on April 21 at 3 p.m.

The operating period runs from the May long weekend (May 22 to 24) to the Labour Day long weekend. (Sept. 4 to 6).

The Old Town caf茅 has been opened seasonally for several years under contracts with the city, which owns the building and property.

The location originally opened in 1937 and was a SA国际影视传媒渉aunt for miners, bush pilots and Indigenous trappers and their dog teams in the early years,SA国际影视传媒� according to the city's RFP document.

The non-profit Old Stope Association stepped up in 1978 to refurbish the aging building that had fallen into disrepair.

In 1979 it reopened for seasonal operation under a lease relationship with the city.

Restaurateurs too busy for 2021 contract

owners Jo-Ann Martin and Mark Elson had the contract to run the Wildcat in 2019, the last time it was open for customers.

Under the two-year term, the pair would have run the Wildcat in 2020 as well but the municipality didn't open the caf茅 because of the pandemic.

The city offered to extend the contract into 2021. But after some consideration, Martin and Elson decided to opt out.

SA国际影视传媒淪omebody could possibly do it by themselves,SA国际影视传媒� Martin said. SA国际影视传媒淏ut for the way we want to run it, it's not necessarily a good time with (our) new bottling plant and other things. Running the bistro is pretty much all we can do now. Good luck to someone who can make a go of it this summer but it won't be us.SA国际影视传媒�

'Exciting and historic caf茅'

Martin said their summer of operating the caf茅 was exciting, although it came with a high learning curve.

She recalled the contract stipulating the menu be of a bistro or caf茅 style, and that food items be similar to those contained in the original menu when the caf茅 opened.

SA国际影视传媒淚t was a menu for 1940. There were certain things on the menu, I thought 'I guess that was a big deal back in the day.' (But) nobody would drink prune juice (today),SA国际影视传媒� she said with a laugh. SA国际影视传媒�(Still) you could be as creative as you wanted, within reason.SA国际影视传媒�

When they took on the contract in 2019, Martin and Elson had hoped to earn profit in the second year, since the seasonal nature of the caf茅 meant they would be lucky to break even in the first year. But Martin said running the caf茅 for just one season was still a valuable experience.

SA国际影视传媒淭he Wildcat has so much history and people love it. The Old Town people and a lot of long-time residents really enjoy going to the Wildcat,SA国际影视传媒� she said. SA国际影视传媒淚t's like a rite of passage almost. We had people come up to us who had been around decades ago offering ideas to us and remembering things that were special to them.SA国际影视传媒�