Quenching a thirst

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This article was published 28/11/2014 (3941 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

STEINBACH — Technically, Steinbach was a “dry” town for many years.

But in reality, there was always “the Frantz.”

The Frantz Motor Inn is a hotel beverage room built on Steinbach’s border, but inside the RM of La Broquerie. It’s at the end of Main Street in Steinbach, so you can hardly tell you’ve left the community.

In 1976, local council shot down a proposal by Alvin Frantz to build a new bar in Steinbach, so he opened the bar just over the municipal line instead.

There was outrage from some church groups, but Frantz weathered the storm. For decades, it boasted one of the most coveted locations for a beverage room outside Winnipeg. It had a large, potentially thirsty population right outside its door, and no competition.

That has changed noticeably since Steinbach started liberalizing its liquor laws. Serving liquor with meals was approved in 2003; the first provincial Liquor Mart opened in 2009; the first lounges were permitted in 2011.

Now the competition is fierce. The Liquor Mart wasn’t five years old before it launched a $700,000 expansion, increasing its floor space almost 50 per cent to 8,500 sq. ft. “Let the jokes begin,” was how reporter Grant Burr, of Steinbach-based weekly newspaper, the Carillon, began his story about the expansion earlier this year.

Meanwhile, Smitty’s and Boston Pizza restaurants have opened lounges and built outdoor patios. The Village Green Restaurant at the Steinbach golf course is now licensed. Steinbach even has a popular British-style pub and restaurant, called Sawney Beans.

“The church ministers of 50 years ago must be rolling over in their graves. They would never have believed this,” said one lifetime resident.

Pent-up demand?

“I think it’s just that we’re evolving. We’re a very quickly growing community,” said Linda Peters, the Steinbach Chamber of Commerce’s executive director.

Steinbach grew 22 per cent between 2005 and 2010. Its population today is approaching 16,000. Most of that is fuelled by immigration.

The drinking culture has changed, too. Over-drinking and rowdy bar behaviour have become passé thanks to tougher drunk-driving laws. That has made legalization of liquor more acceptable to people in Steinbach.

As for the Frantz?

Actually, Alvin Frantz owned the old Tourist hotel in downtown Steinbach, with its men-only beer parlour, prior to the Frantz. It’s a misconception Steinbach was always dry. It had a hotel bar until 1976. If you go back far enough, there was even a bar with its own horse stable.

Times were changing. Frantz wanted to build a new hotel with a beverage room for both men and women. There was even a rally outside his bar by two placard-waving women protesting the bar’s sexism.

So in defiance, he closed the bar in Steinbach, and built his hotel on the city’s boundary. For added hubris, he named the hotel after himself.

Josette Roch, the fourth owner of the Frantz in its nearly 40-year history, concedes the Liquor Mart has taken a bite out of vendor sales. She estimates beer sales are down 25 per cent, while returns have gone up.

But the Frantz remains very much in the competitive mix today. The dining room seats 90, and the bar can hold 225. It has 40 VLTs. She has 19 well-kept rooms, and they’re usually occupied, often by construction crews.

Roch recently spent $500,000 upgrading the hotel’s R-bistro restaurant. You don’t see many hotel beverage rooms outside Winnipeg taking on that kind of investment. Residents give high marks to the dining room food. “It’s a nice place to go if it’s your turn to cook,” one man quipped. Roch also plans to brighten the beverage room and install booths.

There hasn’t been controversy between the Frantz and community for ages, said Roch. “We have a good church following. After church, congregations will come to the restaurant,” she said.

As for Alvin Frantz, he only owned the hotel four years before selling. He moved to Phoenix in 1979 where he opened another hotel. He died two years ago.

bill.redekop@freepress.mb.ca