Mountain World’s last chance gone Mountain World has played its last card in a bid to remain in business, and come up short. In an Aug. 6 memo to shareholders Glenn Fawcett, president of the location-based entertainment complex said the provincial liquor licensing committee had "declined to offer us the ‘exercise of discretion’ we had been seeking..." Fawcett had a hearing with the committee on June 28 where he tried to make the case for a liquor licence which would allow adult patrons to eat and drink throughout the facility. Mountain World’s class B licence restricted patrons to eating and drinking in a limited space within the facility, away from the high-tech games. Fawcett has blamed the restrictive B liquor licence and the licensing system for lower than expected liquor revenues, which led to the company’s financial problems. The company closed its doors on June 3 when Fawcett’s proposal to creditors was rejected by the Whistler Resort Association, Mountain World’s landlord. Mountain World failed to make a lease payment during its 18 months in operation. Deloitte & Touche was appointed trustee in the bankruptcy and has until Sept. 3 to liquidate the unsecured assets of Mountain World and clear out the premises under the Whistler Conference Centre. In his memo to shareholders following the liquor licensing committee’s decision, Fawcett wrote: "As we indicated previously, if we received no support for the integration of alcohol with gameplay from this hearing, then there would be no likelihood of resurrecting this business from bankruptcy. As there is no longer any realistic hope of this liquor license coming through these means the trustee has no choice (but) to proceed rapidly with this liquidation." Last year Fawcett sought the transfer of the WRA’s class A licensed seats to Mountain World. That request was turned down. Even if the liquor licensing committee had found a way to integrate entertainment with dining under the licensing system, Fawcett would still have had to find financing to bring the company out of bankruptcy. Mountain World owed the WRA, a secured creditor, more than $100,000 in rent. At least 13 local companies were among the unsecured creditors owed some $5,000. Topping the list of unsecured creditors was Accel Capital Corp. of Vancouver, which was owed more than $468,000. The Royal Bank was owed $193,000 and Newcourt Financial was owed $105,000. Mountain World opened in November of 1997. The location-based entertainment centre included numerous state-of-the-art interactive and virtual technology games as well as a restaurant, bar, artificial climbing wall and other traditional games. The company raised nearly $4 million in equity and $1 million in debt and lease arrangements prior to opening. Mountain World Entertainment Ltd. was a public company, traded on the Alberta Stock Exchange.
