| Contractor: Day labour
Original
cost: $75,000
Original
owner:
Robert Cadogan Thomas came to Calgary from England in
1884 and settled on a ranch seventeen miles southeast of
the city at the mouth of Pine Creek. According to the
History of the Province of Alberta published in 1912,
Thomas " stayed on his ranch for ten years then came
to Calgary and entered the coal business",
eventually buying the Edmonton Coal Company. "Doing
well in this business, he added the lines of lumber, ice
and farm machinery, which he continued until 1911, when
he sold out the lumber property, rented the farm
machinery property and started in the erection of
business blocks in the business district." He built
the Thomas Block (1905), the Cadogan (1911), the Royal
Hotel (1920) and the Wales Hotel (1930). Thomas served as
Alderman in 1904 - 1905 and 1924 – 1927, and was on
the executive council of the Calgary Board of Trade for
12 years. He was a member of the Kiwanis Club, the Sons
of England, the Southern Alberta Pioneers and
Oldtimers’ Association, the Municipal Cricket Club
and the Calgary Golf and Country Club. In 1887 Thomas
married Agnes Egerie Shaw, a daughter of Samuel William
Shaw of Midnapore. Together they had four children Robert
Cadogan Thomas died in 1950 at the age of 88.
Construction materials: Red brick and sandstone.
Architectural style: Four storey commercial block.
Original interior
details: Forty
two rooms.
Historical highlights:
- Originally the site
of the Frontier Stables built in 1883 by Fish
Creek pioneer John Glenn.
- In 1897 Thomas
bought the stables which had been vacant for
three years for $1,500. He extended the structure
and added roof dormers.
- By February 1910
the automobile had arrived and the economy was
booming. Thomas tore down the barns and corral to
build a $75,000 four storey commercial block
which he named Cadogan after himself. With the
boom came the inevitable conflict between past
and present. For many Calgarians the passing of
the Frontier Stables marked the end of the
pioneer era. The Calgary Daily News reported,
"the demolishing of the old stable and the
erection of a substantial and up-to-date business
block in its place will greatly improve the
appearance of this part of the main street, and
will be regarded as a piece of good news by a
great number of citizens who have long considered
the stable an eyesore to this part of 8th
Avenue."
- When the stables
were demolished, workmen uncovered a labyrinth of
underground passages. The local paper reported
"In the good old days, when prohibition did
not prohibit—but apparently was in force for
the purpose of sharpening the wits of those who
wanted a drink and had the four bits to pay for
it – the old stable often had as much liquor
concealed around it as some of the wholesale
stores do now."
- Construction on the
new commercial block began in earnest shortly
after Thomas applied for a building permit on
September 9, 1910.
- Albert Adrian Dick
(real estate investor and Titanic survivor),
Gibson Catlett (Montreal artist), Northwest
Empire Land Company, the Dominion
Government’s Electricity and Gas Inspection
Services and an assortment of real estate agents
and lawyers were among the Cadogan’s first
tenants in 1913. Eleven of the forty – two
suites were vacant.
- By 1915, the
economic impact of the First Great War, the
downturn in the economy and an over-supply of
office space took its toll. The Cadogan lost most
of its business tenants. The adaptable Thomas
converted the block to residential suites, the
first of two major transformations for the
building.
- Following a second
renovation in 1920 which added three storeys,
Thomas re-opened the building as the "New
Royal Hotel" in January 1921. Every room had
hot and cold running water and private bath.
Daily rates ranged from $2.00 to $3.00.
- In 1928, Thomas
sold the Royal to veteran hotelman Frank Webster
and used the proceeds to build the eleven storey
Wales Hotel across the street.
- The Websters began
a major reconstruction of the Royal in November
1950. An adjacent one storey brick building was
demolished to permit " expansion of the
lobby, the construction of a new dining room (
Starlight Room) and a nine floor addition."
By 1953 the renovated Royal Hotel, designed by
local architects, Rule, Wynn and Rule, was
completed.
- Calgary’s
first "Smorgasbord" made its debut at
the Royal Hotel in October 1954 under the
direction of chef Victor Fuchs. It became a
permanent attraction of the Royal Hotel Room each
Wednesday evening from 6 to 10 p.m.
- TheWebster family
retained ownership of the hotel until 1961 when
it was sold to "unidentified British
interests" for an estimated $1,750,000.
- Louis Armstrong,
the Russian soccer team, Mantovani’s
Orchestra and a young singer named Johnny Cash
were among the many guests of the Royal Hotel
over its fifty year history.
- According to Bert
Mosley, manager of the Royal from 1956 to 1962,
the hotel’s tavern had "top sales of
beer," in Alberta during the 1950s. .
- In March 1971,
Capitol Plaza, owned jointly by the Bank of Nova
Scotia and Famous Players Canadian Corporation,
bought the Royal Hotel and the adjacent Webster
Building to accommodate the construction of the
40 storey Scotia Centre.
- The contents of the
Royal Hotel were auctioned off in February 1972
and the building was demolished along with the
Capitol Theatre, a Holt Renfrew store and the
Webster Block.
- The Scotia Centre
opened in 1976.
|
