Hotel Saskatchewan
Encyclopedia
The Hotel Saskatchewan is a grand hotel
located in downtown Regina, Saskatchewan
, Canada
, overlooking Victoria Park
.
One of a chain of hotels constructed and owned by the Canadian Pacific Railway
, the railway's earlier hotels, such as the Château Frontenac
in Quebec City
, the Chateau Lake Louise
and the Banff Springs Hotel
were designed in a distinctive château style, but by the late 1920s this was abandoned in favour of a much simpler and less expensive style. The Hotel Saskatchewan was the hub of the city's social life, and as part of the Radisson Hotels
chain, is still a luxury hotel.
A prior attempt at construction of a grand railway hotel, the Chateau Qu'Appelle
, failed when the Grand Trunk Railway went bankrupt. The site of the partially-constructed Chateau Qu'Appelle—now the site of the Royal Saskatchewan Museum
on the corner of Albert Street and College Avenue—remained derelict for some years on the corner of College Avenue and Albert Street till the CPR purchased the disused girders for use in the construction of the Hotel Saskatchewan and the large excavation was finally filled in.
The City of Regina Archives website describes the Hotel Saskatchewan in the following terms:
Canada's grand railway hotels
Canada’s railway hotels are a series of grand hotels across the country, each a local and national landmark, and most of which are icons of Canadian history and architecture. Each hotel was originally built by the Canadian railway companies, or the railways acted as a catalyst for the hotel’s...
located in downtown Regina, Saskatchewan
Regina, Saskatchewan
Regina is the capital city of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province and a cultural and commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. It is governed by Regina City Council. Regina is the cathedral city of the Roman Catholic and Romanian Orthodox...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, overlooking Victoria Park
Victoria Park, Regina
Victoria Park is a public park in the centre of downtown Regina. The city's founders set aside a plot of land right in the centre of town and named it Victoria Square. It was supposed to serve as a green space, part of an effort to make Regina a more attractive destination for settlers...
.
One of a chain of hotels constructed and owned by the Canadian Pacific Railway
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...
, the railway's earlier hotels, such as the Château Frontenac
Château Frontenac
The Château Frontenac, currently known as Fairmont Le Château Frontenac, is a grand hotel in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. It was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1980...
in Quebec City
Quebec City
Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...
, the Chateau Lake Louise
Chateau Lake Louise
The Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise is a Fairmont Hotel on the eastern shore of Lake Louise, near Banff, Alberta. The original Chateau was gradually built up at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century by the Canadian Pacific Railway and was thus "kin" to its predecessors, the Banff...
and the Banff Springs Hotel
Banff Springs Hotel
The Fairmont Banff Springs or simply the Banff Springs Hotel is a former railway hotel constructed in Scottish Baronial style located in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada. The original hotel, designed by American architect Bruce Price, was built between spring of 1887 and 1888 by the Canadian...
were designed in a distinctive château style, but by the late 1920s this was abandoned in favour of a much simpler and less expensive style. The Hotel Saskatchewan was the hub of the city's social life, and as part of the Radisson Hotels
Radisson Hotels
Radisson Hotels is one of the leading, full-service global hotel companies with more than 420 locations in 73 countries. The first Radisson Hotel was built in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1909, and was named after the 17th-century French explorer Pierre-Esprit Radisson...
chain, is still a luxury hotel.
History
Chateau Qu'Appelle
The Chateau Qu'Appelle was a Grand Trunk Pacific Railway hotel planned for Regina, Saskatchewan. Construction was started in 1913 at the corner of Albert Street and 16th Avenue . Rising costs, labour and material shortages, and the bankruptcy of the railway stopped the project before it was completed...
, failed when the Grand Trunk Railway went bankrupt. The site of the partially-constructed Chateau Qu'Appelle—now the site of the Royal Saskatchewan Museum
Royal Saskatchewan Museum
The Royal Saskatchewan Museum was established in Regina as the Provincial Museum in 1906 to "secure and preserve natural history specimens and objects of historical and ethnological interest." It was the first museum in Saskatchewan, Canada, and the first provincial museum in the three Prairie...
on the corner of Albert Street and College Avenue—remained derelict for some years on the corner of College Avenue and Albert Street till the CPR purchased the disused girders for use in the construction of the Hotel Saskatchewan and the large excavation was finally filled in.
The City of Regina Archives website describes the Hotel Saskatchewan in the following terms:
After the embarrassing fiasco that was the Chateau Qu'AppelleChateau Qu'AppelleThe Chateau Qu'Appelle was a Grand Trunk Pacific Railway hotel planned for Regina, Saskatchewan. Construction was started in 1913 at the corner of Albert Street and 16th Avenue . Rising costs, labour and material shortages, and the bankruptcy of the railway stopped the project before it was completed...
, Regina's aldermen felt that a first-class hotel was needed for the city. They began to lobby the CPR to build an appropriate establishment in order to attract more tourists to the Queen CityQueen City-Official name:It is the official place name of two places in the United States:* Queen City, Missouri* Queen City, Texas-North America:* Allentown, Pennsylvania* Bangor, Maine* Beach Haven, New Jersey* Buffalo, New York* Burlington, Vermont...
. The CPR responded in 1927 by building the Hotel Saskatchewan, the fourteenth of the CPR's national chain of hotels. The hotel was built on the site of F.N. Darke's first residence, to the south of Victoria Park. Construction took less than a year and incorporated many of the girders that had stood for so long as the skeleton of Regina 's ill-fated first railroad hotel, the Chateau Qu'Appelle. The building itself was a Modernist Classical design that incorporated the use of ManitobaManitobaManitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
tyndall stoneTyndall StoneTyndall stone is a dolomitic limestone quarried from the Selkirk member of the Ordovician Red River Formation, in the vicinity of Tyndall, Manitoba, Canada. It was first used in 1832 for building Lower Fort Garry, and has since become popular for building purposes throughout Canada and the United...
on the outside façade (the same material used for the façade of the Saskatchewan Legislative BuildingSaskatchewan Legislative BuildingThe Saskatchewan Legislative Building is located in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, and houses the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan.-History:...
and the Royal Saskatchewan MuseumRoyal Saskatchewan MuseumThe Royal Saskatchewan Museum was established in Regina as the Provincial Museum in 1906 to "secure and preserve natural history specimens and objects of historical and ethnological interest." It was the first museum in Saskatchewan, Canada, and the first provincial museum in the three Prairie...
), as well as brick. The building was as lavish inside as out, featuring vaulted ceilings and marble thresholds. Although construction was an epic undertaking that, at its height, involved a thousand men working shifts 24 hours a day, the results were worth it. The building, like the McCallum Hill Building on the north end of the park, generated its own power and water. The site became a favourite of royalty and political dignitaries alike, and strives to retain its grand reputation - the hotel was once Saskatchewan's only CAACanadian Automobile AssociationThe Canadian Automobile Association , commonly known as CAA, is a non-profit federation, founded in 1913, of nine clubs across Canada, providing roadside assistance service, a complete range of auto touring and leisure travel services, insurance services, and member discounts with preferred...
Four Diamond property in international tourist guides. However in 2009, the hotel was demoted to a Three Diamond property, and has yet to regain its previous ranking.
Declared a municipal heritage siteHeritage siteA Heritage Site is a location designated as important to the cultural heritage of a governing body such as a township, county, province, state, or country. It is a non-moveable object such as a historic site or national monument, but it may include several sites grouped together such as...
in 1993, it is first choice for any member of the Royal FamilyBritish Royal FamilyThe British Royal Family is the group of close relatives of the monarch of the United Kingdom. The term is also commonly applied to the same group of people as the relations of the monarch in her or his role as sovereign of any of the other Commonwealth realms, thus sometimes at variance with...
when staying in Regina, and between 1945 and 1984, was the official residence and office of Saskatchewan's Lieutenant GovernorLieutenant-Governors of SaskatchewanThe following is a list of the Lieutenant Governors of Saskatchewan. Though the present day office of the lieutenant governor in Saskatchewan came into being only upon the province's entry into Canadian Confederation in 1905, the post is a continuation from the first governorship of the Northwest...
.