Habitant operated in Richibucto for more than 45 years

C2

by Dwayne Tingley
times & transcript staff

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RICHIBUCTO - The Habitant Restaurant and Motel served as a cosy stop halfway between Moncton and the Miramichi for 45 years, but nobody wants to run the business anymore and a former part-owner knows why.

The Business Development Bank of Canada, which seized the Habitant last spring, put the Richibucto landmark up for auction last week. The bank opened the bidding at $311,000 and 10 people attended the auction, but none showed any interest in making an offer.

Claude Thebeau, whose parents Maria and Elzear started the business, said there are several factors that led up to the Habitant's demise.

Re-routing the major highway, the downturn in the tourism industry and a lack of support from the village for local business all contributed to the closure of the Habitant, Thebeau said.

"Look at Richibucto," he said yesterday.

"They have spent $500-600,000 on a new village hall they didn't need, then they lease space out to compete with existing businesses.

"That's what they've done in Richibucto. It's hard to run a business here and they make it even harder." Meanwhile, Maria Thebeau, who is 66-years-old and opened the restaurant when she was just 21, is not bitter about what happened to the restaurant.

"We have a lot of good memories and we ran a very successful business that was important to Richibucto and the area," she said.

"I realize now how important we were in the community. I see people every day who tell us they miss us and they feel bad about what happened. It's good to know we were appreciated.

"We had regulars, we had tourists and we had a great staff, many of them who worked with his for 25 years, and I miss them all. They're good people."Maria Thebeau said the Habitant property was appraised a couple of years ago at $1.5 million. She's surprised the bank can't get anyone to pay about $300,000 for it. At one time, the family had considered converting the motel into a nursing home, but too much red tape with the provincial government scuttled that idea.

"I don't know what the bank is going to do with it now," said Maria, whose husband Elzear was killed in a car accident in 1991.

The bank will now attempt to negotiate a private sale of the property or list it with a realtor.