When he starts explaining the latest delay in moving Adrian鈥檚 at the Airport into a new home next door, restaurant owner Demetre Exarhopoulos starts laughing.

His relocation into new premises in the new 91原创 Airport terminal building next door was already about a year behind schedule.

Then, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, bringing with it restrictions designed to prevent close contact on construction sites.

鈥淭hey are working one trade at a time,鈥� Exarhopoulos told the 91原创 Advance Times.

Plumbers, drywallers and painters now have to take turns rather than work simultaneously, something that has moved back the relocation another 鈥渢wo months, maybe,鈥� he estimated.

鈥淚n a sense, it has been a blessing in disguise,鈥� Exarhopoulos commented, because his business took a nose-dive during the lockdown that limited Adrian鈥檚 to take-out customers only.

Now that he can, as of this Friday, have sit-down customers, moving to roomier and more expensive premises will be less of a challenge.

READ ALSO: New 91原创 airport building nears completion

Originally, the plan was to have the restaurant relocated into new premises in the new 91原创 Airport terminal building last October, but a series of construction setbacks got in the way.

Builder Ron Madsen cited a number of unexpected developments, including the imposition by the U.S. of tariffs on steel that held up deliveries, and waits for permits from 91原创 Township.

Madsen鈥檚 RDM Enterprises Group is building the new facility, and an RDM division, Pacific Aircraft Services, owns the building and will lease it out.

Once it moves, Adrian鈥檚 will be operating in much larger premises, almost double the size of the current building, an aging two-storey wood former flight school that will be torn down once the move is complete.

It鈥檚 new home is part of a $10 million 55,000 sq-ft three-storey combination building, with larger administration offices, and a new airport control tower rising another two storeys above it.

READ ALSO: New terminal, tower building coming to 91原创 airport

Originally built by the federal Department of Transport in 1938, the 91原创 airport was controlled by the Department of National Defence and enhanced for the Royal Canadian Air Force for use as a relief field in the early 1940s.

After the Second World War, the Department of Transport resumed ownership and leased the airport to the Township of 91原创. In 1954, the facility was licensed to operate as a municipal airport and in 1967 it was purchased by the Township.

dan.ferguson@langleyadvancetimes.com
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