The Royal Connaught Hotel is a 13-storey building in downtown Hamilton Ontario
- 1911 - Businessman Harry Louis Frost approaches the city about building a grand hotel.
- 1914 - A building permit is issued for construction on the site of the Waldorf Hotel.
- 1916 - The hotel opens with a lavish banquet and dance on 5 June.
- Date Built: 1914 - 1916
- The Anglo-American Hotel was erected on this site in 1854 in anticipation of the arrival of the Great Western Railway in Hamilton. When the Anglo-American Hotel declared bankruptcy in 1861, the building was converted into the Wesleyan Female College, an exclusive international school for the education of women. After the Wesleyan Ladies College closed in 1898, the building was reconverted into the Waldorf Hotel. The Waldorf Hotel in turn closed in 1913, and the City issued a building permit for construction of a new hotel on the site.
The new building cost $1,000,000, and a contest was held to find a suitable name for the hotel. Alfie Richards, an Ottawa Street School student living on Rosslyn Avenue in Crown Point, won the $10 gold piece prize by suggesting the name Connaught after Canada's Governor General, Prince Arthur William Patrick Albert, 1st Duke of Connaught and Strathearn. In 1914 the Duke of Connaught laid the cornerstone, and granted permission to add "Royal" to the name of the hotel.
The hotel opened in 1916 with tours for the general public, an opening reception, and a lavish banquet and dance. Several thousand Hamiltonians toured that afternoon, and 300 Hamilton representatives, including Hamilton's own Lieutenant Governor of Ontario Sir John S. Hendrie, attended the evening festivities. In his speech, Mayor Chester Walters emphasized that the opening of the Royal Connaught marked an important milestone in the commercial development of Hamilton, and applauded the citizens that despite adverse circumstances, "but backed by their money and brains", brought the immense project to a successful conclusion.
The Edwardian Style Royal Connaught Hotel was compared by some to the Chateau Laurier in Ottawa. Built by the Piggot Construction Company, the 12-storey steel construction building's walls and floors were made of concrete and gypsum, making the structure relatively fire-proof for its time. The exterior walls of the ground floor with its large rounded windows and mezzanine were limestone, the 2nd to 9th walls were brick, and the 10th to roof floors were terra cotta. The building was capped by a large overhanging cornice.
The hotel, which dominated downtown Hamilton, was approached by a sweeping, canopied front drive. Inside, the lobby was decorated in Chippendale style furniture, decorated glass, and mahogany woodwork. A sweeping marble staircase lead to the mezzanine where writing desks for gentlemen were situated at one end, and a tea room for ladies at the other. The hotel's palatial amenities included 244 ensuite bedrooms all baths with marble floors. The hotel boasted a convention and banquet hall seating 1500, a grill room, a bar, a barber shop, a shoeshine parlour, telephones, electric clocks, and electric elevators replete with uniformed operators.
Over the next 5 decades, the Royal Connaught hosted scores of local and international events, hundreds of celebrities from the entertainment and political spheres.
Written by: Bill Manson
The hotel, which dominated downtown Hamilton, was approached by a sweeping, canopied front drive. Inside, the lobby was decorated in Chippendale style furniture, decorated glass, and mahogany woodwork. A sweeping marble staircase lead to the mezzanine where writing desks for gentlemen were situated at one end, and a tea room for ladies at the other.
- 1927- In 1927, CKOC radio station was finding the Lister Building accommodations unsatisfactory and the radio station was moved to the 11th floor of the Royal Connaught Hotel. The transmitter power was raised from 50 to 100 watts. For a brief time, CKOC and CHML shared the same frequency... 880 on the radio dial. In 1931, CKOC changed to the 630 on the dial and boosted power to a full 1,000 watts. The radio business was beginning to boom![2]
- 1929- The hotel expands into a neighbouring building.
- 1930- United Hotels Company, which owned the Connaught, announces it has been sold. The new owner adds 200 rooms and turns the bottom floors into offices and shops.
- 1952- The hotel is sold to the Sheraton chain, which later completes a million-dollar renovation.
- 1973- The hotel is again sold, this time to Toronto-based Citicom. Another renovation worth $4 million is completed.
- 1988- The hotel is sold to Joymarmon Properties Ltd.
- 1992- Joymarmon loses the hotel when its mortgage holder forecloses.
- 1993- The hotel becomes a franchise under the Howard Johnson chain.
- 2002- Canmac Hotels Corporation, a master at reviving struggling hotels, buys the hotel, assumes its $6-million debt and promises full-scale renovations.
- 2004- Hotel closes after going into receivership.
- 2005- Five local businessmen buy the hotel for $4.5 million.
- 2008- Real Estate developer Harry Stinson makes a deposit with plans to reopen it for Christmas 2009.
- 2008- June 2, 2008, Harry Stinson makes a public presentation of his proposed 100-storey Connaught Towersat the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce building. Once complete, it will become the tallest building in Canada.[3][4][5] Three months later, on Thursday September 4, Harry Stinson closes up the Connaught Towers sales office in downtown Hamilton and the project is officially cancelled.
- From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Connaught_Hotel
Closed since 2004 and sitting abandoned
May 25, 2010 | Vote0 0
Bankruptcy order against consortium behind Connaught plan
A bankruptcy order has been issued against the consortium behind the bid to redevelop the Royal Connaught hotel.
Bankruptcy order against consortium behind Connaught plan
A bankruptcy order has been issued against the consortium behind the bid to redevelop the Royal Connaught hotel.
Construction has finally started on Hamilton’s Royal Connaught Hotel to convert it into condos.
_http://www.chch.com/connaught-condo-conversion-starts/
December 12, 2013Construction has finally started on Hamilton’s Royal Connaught Hotel to convert it into condos.
The owners received a building permit on Friday and the crew has started restoring the three-storey grand lobby and building a model suite on the ground floor. The plan is to put 135 condos in the original structure on King Street East and John Street South.
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The owners received a building permit on Friday and the crew has started restoring the three-storey grand lobby and building a model suite on the ground floor. The plan is to put 135 condos in the original structure on King Street East and John Street South.
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- Hammers are ringing on the long-awaited Royal Connaught condo conversion.
Owners Ted Valeri and Rudi Spallacci received a building permit Friday and construction crews have started restoring the three-storey grand lobby and building a model suite on the ground floor.
"We are really happy and excited," said Valeri, owner of Valery Homes.
"As you and every Hamiltonian knows, it's been way too long coming. The Royal Connaught has been closed for too long."
The long-struggling 13-storey hotel went bankrupt in late 2004. Hopes have been repeatedly rekindled for its revival in some form but this is the first time a plan has taken flight.
Valeri and Spallacci's $200-million plan calls for 700 units in four buildings ultimately, but for now they are focused on 135 condos in the original structure.
"If all goes well we should see occupancy in late 2015," Valeri said. The developers are confident the market for the condos is strong. They will range from 530 to 1,190 square feet and start in the high $100,000 range.
Presales will begin once the model suite is open but more than 1,000 people have registered on a website about the project, he said.
"This is so great for the city. I'm from Hamilton and that building is the first thing I think of when I think of Hamilton."
All the mechanics of the building must be replaced but the structure of the downtown landmark is sound, he said.
"It's a well-built building, there's no doubt about it. The plaster work all has to be redone but the bricks and mortar are perfect."
The 97-year-old building — the site of many dances, proms and weddings — takes up the better part of a city block and is widely considered a linchpin in continuing the momentum of the revival of downtown and success of a plan to make Gore Park more pedestrian friendly. There were initial hopes the Connaught could be restored as a grand hotel, but a four-way consortium that included Valeri — who bought the building for $4.5 million in 2004 — failed to get its vision off the ground.
Then Harry Stinson unveiled a plan to restore the hotel and build a 1,000-foot condo tower but he couldn't line up the financing. After a shuffle in the ownership group, there was a controversial city-backed plan in 2010 to retrofit the building for affordable housing that eventually failed to get provincial funding.
Shortly after a bankruptcy order was issued against the ownership group, which included Valeri and Spallacci, who held a second mortgage on the property.
As the building sat vacant year after year, fears rose it could fall to a wrecking ball or simple neglect.
By the summer of 2011, however, city officials were talking about having a reborn Connaught by the 2015 Pan Am Games.
http://www.thespec.com/news-story/42...nnaught-lobby/
From
- THE SPEC.com
- chch.com
- Abandoned UE
- http://historicalhamilton.com
- Pictures are from Google