Hotel Macdonald

Infobox hotel
hotel_name = The Hotel Macdonald

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image_width = 250
caption = Side elevation of Hotel Macdonald
location = Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
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opening_date = July 5, 1915
stars = 5
diamonds =
closing_date =
developer =
architect = Ross and Macdonald
operator =Fairmont Hotels and Resorts
owner =Fairmont Hotels and Resorts
number_of_restaurants =
number_of_rooms =
number_of_suites =
floor_area =
floors =
parking =
website = [http://www.fairmont.com/macdonald/ www.fairmont.com/macdonald]
footnotes =

The Hotel Macdonald is a hotel built in 1912 in the city of Edmonton, Alberta, by the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. The hotel has successively been owned by Canadian National Railway, Canadian Pacific Hotels, and Fairmont Hotels and Resorts.

History

Prior to the construction of the Hotel Macdonald, the site was home to a squatters' camp. The squatters often lived in tents or in small caves dug into the side of the river valley wall where they still remain to this very day. Many of the squatters were Ukrainian-speaking immigrants from the Austro-Hungarian province of Galicia. The locals nicknamed the site the "Galician Hotel".

The Hotel Macdonald (affectionately called "Hotel Mac" by Edmontonians) was designed by Ross and Macdonald, the same architectural firm that designed many of Canada's landmark hotels. The hotel was designed in the Château-style that characterized Canada's large railway hotels, and was completed on July 5, 1915. It is named after Canada's first prime minister, Sir John A Macdonald. Standing high on the bank overlooking the largest urban parkway in North America, the North Saskatchewan River Valley, the Hotel Macdonald has a beautiful garden in the rear of the building.

This seven-storey Grand Trunk Pacific hotel was built in a distinctive Chateau Style adapted from 16th century French castles. The building is aced with Indiana limestone and roofed with copper). It cost about $2.2m CDN to build and furnish was built and furnished at a cost of about $2,250,000 (over $35 million today) [Fairmont Hotel Macdonald website: http://www.fairmont.com/MacDonald/] .

Along with the Palliser Hotel in Calgary, it was one of the first two establishments to be re-issued with a liquor licence by the Alberta Liquor Control Board when Alberta abolished Prohibition in 1924.

A 300-bedroom, 16-storey addition (now demolished) was built in a modern style in 1953 to keep up with the rising demand for hotel accommodation in the city. Together the hotel and the addition were dubbed "The Mac and the box it came in." [Alberta Association of Architects, 2007. http://www.aaa.ab.ca/pages/public/csaa/csaa-76.aspx ]

The hotel fell into disrepair and was closed in 1983, and there was talk of demolition. The City of Edmonton designated the building as a Municipal Heritage Resource, with five areas included in the designation: the building exterior, the Confederation Lounge, the Lobby, the Wedgwood Room, and the Empire Ballroom. Canadian Pacific Hotels bought the hotel in 1988, and restored the hotel it its original grandeur in 1991 (at a cost of $28m). Several suites were added (Charles Melville Hays Suite, Deluxe Turret Room, Lois Hole Suite, King George VI Suite, Sir Winston Churchill Suite, Edward Prince of Wales Suite, the Aberhart, Manning, and Lougheed suites, and the Queen Elizabeth II Suite (also known as the Royal Suite) which was 2400 square feet, over two floors, with two bedrooms and a dining room for eight. With the addition of the 18 suites, the hotel now has 199 rooms.

In 1999, CP Hotels merged with Fairmont Hotels, who now own the site.

References

External links

* [http://www.fairmont.com/macdonald/ Official site]
* [http://www.discoverjasper.com/FeaturesReviews/AccommodationGuide/8-267.html CP and CN Hotels]
* [http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=177719 Emporis Listing]