Royal Connaught Hotel

The Royal Connaught Hotel is a 13-storey building, (50.0-metres), at the corner of King Street East & John Street North in downtown Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Built by Harry Frost of Buffalo, New York in 1914, who also started up and owned the Frost Fence Company in Hamilton.

Timeline

* 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 opened with a lavish banquet and dance on June 5.

* 1922- Prior to the 1922-23 season, the NHL would hold it's Governors meeting at the Royal Connaught Hotel on King Street, where the visiting NHL teams who came to town to play against the Hamilton Tigers stayed as well.cite book|title=Hamilton's Hockey Tigers |first=Sam & David |last=Wesley |publisher=James Lorimer & Company Ltd.|year=2005|id= ISBN 1550288873]

* 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!cite web| title = OLDIES 1150 CKOC (Official Web Site)| url=http://www.oldies1150.com/node/509803| accessdate = 2008-08-20]

* 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 woerth $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 closesafter 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 2nd 2008, Harry Stinson makes a public presentation of his proposed 100-storey "Connaught Towers" at the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce building. Once complete will become the tallest building in Canada. [De Lazzer , Rachel. "Condo king buys Royal Connaught for $9.5m." Hamilton Spectator. 29 February 2008: A1.] ["Every city needs an icon."- Harry Stinson, Hamilton Spectator. 24 May 2008: WR7.] cite web| title = The Connaught Towers (Official Web Site)| url=http://www.theconnaught.ca| accessdate = 2008-06-03] Three months later, on Thursday September 4th, Harry Stinson closes up the Connaught Towers sales office in downtown Hamilton and the project is officially cancelled.

Harry Stinson & The Connaught Towers

On February 29, 2008 Harry Stinson inked a $9.5-million contract to purchase the Royal Connaught Hotel at Hamilton, Ontario. The agreement was secured with a $100,000 deposit and provided a 30 day conditional period for Stinson to secure financing. But Harry Stinson could not secure the financing, and the $100,000 deposit was lost. The concept includes restoration and a substantial addition to the existing Connaught building to include a 100-room boutique luxury hotel and approximately 200 compact one and two bedroom multi-use condominiums. Stinson's original grand vision included a 70 to 80-storey Sapphire Tower and has now turned into a new 100-storey condominium tower, with a commercial gallery designed to be an architectural signature piece for downtown Hamilton. Price tag for the entire project is $300-million. [De Lazzer , Rachel. "Condo king buys Royal Connaught for $9.5m." Hamilton Spectator. 29 February 2008: A1.]

ee also

*List of tallest buildings in Hamilton, Ontario
*Harry Stinson
*Sapphire Tower

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References

External links

Web

* [http://www.theconnaught.ca The Connaught Towers- Official web site]
* [http://www.skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?c307 Hamilton Skyscraper page- diagrams]

Video

* [http://youtube.com/watch?v=sahO1C1uT30 Harry Stinson talks about the 81-storey Sapphire Tower] - Youtube