Prince of Wales Hotel
| Prince of Wales Hotel | |
|---|---|
 The hotel from Township Road 13A | |
 | |
| General information | |
| Architectural style | Rustic |
| Location | Alberta Highway 5, Waterton,Alberta T0K 2M0 |
| Coordinates | 49°03′32″N113°54′13″W/ 49.05889°N 113.90361°W |
| Named for | Edward, The Prince of Wales |
| Construction started | August 1926 |
| Opened | 25 July 1927 |
| Management | Pursuit Collection |
| Height | 37 metres (121 ft) |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 7 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect(s) | Thomas D. McMahon |
| Developer | Great Northern Railway |
| Main contractor | Oland and Scott Construction of Cardston |
| Website | |
| www | |
| Official name | Princes of Wales Hotel National Historic Site of Canada |
| Designated | 6 November 1992 |
ThePrince of Wales Hotelis a historic hotel located inWaterton,Alberta,Canada. It is situated withinWaterton Lakes National Park,overlookingUpper Waterton Lakes.It was designed by and built for theGreat Northern Railwaycompany. It is currently managed by the Pursuit Collection.
TheRustic-styled building was opened in July 1927. It is 37-metre-tall (121 ft) with seven floors. The building is considered one ofCanada's grand railway hotels,and is the only grand railway hotel built by a company based in the United States. It was named aNational Historic Site of Canadain November 1992.
Location
[edit]
The Prince of Wales Hotel is situated onAlberta Highway 5,in the northern sections ofWaterton,a hamlet withinWaterton Lakes National Park.The hotel is adjacent toUpper Waterton Lakes.The hotel property is bounded by a roadway, parkland, and large bodies of water. To the west, the hotel is bounded by Alberta Highway 5, the only major roadway to the hotel. To the north and east, varying sections of Waterton Lakes bound the hotel, most notably the Bosporus, a narrow strait that connects the Upper Waterton Lakes with the rest of the lake. South of the hotel lies the Upper Waterton Lakes, as well as the Emerald Bay. The hamlet of Waterton lies on the other side of the bay.
The hamlet of Waterton, along with the Prince of Wales Hotel is situated within theRocky Mountains,a largemountain rangethat serves as acontinental divide for the Americas.Located within aCanadian national park,the hotel is situated near several major landmarks and local attractions. Major mountain peaks close to the hotel includeMount Alderson,Mount Boswell,andMount Crandell.Given the park's ecological traits, the national park was designated aUNESCOBiosphere Reservein 1979. Waterton Lakes National Park forms a part of a larger international park known as theWaterton-Glacier International Peace Park.The international park is a union between Waterton Lakes National Park, andGlacier National Park,in theUnited States.The international park is managed byParks Canadaand the U.S.National Park Service.
Design
[edit]Architecture
[edit]The Prince of Wales Hotel is one ofCanada's grand railway hotels,and the only one built by an American company,Great Northern Railway.The hotel was designed by Thomas D. McMahon, with construction contracted to Oland and Scott Construction ofCardston,Alberta. The design of the hotel was also influenced byLouis W. Hill,the president of Great Northern Railway. Maintaining contact with McMahon, he would critique designs submitted by McMahon, placing a particular importance of functionality.[1]Aside from functionality, he was a driving force in acquiring pictographs for the hotel from theKainai Nation.An admirer of theBlackfootculture, he prominently used native imagery as a marketing tool for his company.[2]Hill was also the first to suggest the installation ofpower plugsin the guest rooms of the hotel for the purpose ofclothes ironsandcurling irons.[1]The hotel was designated as aNational Historic Site of Canadaon 6 November 1992.[3]
The building was designed in aRustic architectural style.As a result, the building is primarily made of wood materials for its construction, cladding and detailing.[4]The majority of the lumber was provided by sawmill inSomers,Montana.The Glacier Park Hotel andMany Glacier Hotelwere initially used by McMahon as a design template for the new hotel.[5]However, in an effort to place the focus of the room on the nature outside, McMahon designed a lobby for the Prince of Wales completely different from its templates. The lobby for the Prince of Wales Hotel was perpendicular to the length of the building, and incorporated two-storey windows facing Upper Lake Waterton.[6]Other rustic elements within the hotel, including a natural wood detailing, and a timber-framed lobby, with open spaces ascending to the building's roof.[4]Wood pillars at the hotel are made ofDouglas fir.[3]The building'srotundafeatures hand-carved posts and beams, topped byqueen posts.[1]
Early into the hotel's construction, the pace which Oland and Scott's crews worked outpaced the rate at which McMahon could produce new designs. During the hotel's construction, it was reported in theLethbridge Heraldthat there was evidence Oland and Scott were only receiving their blueprints when the next stage of construction was underway, and were not always delivered on time.[7]Redesigning the hotel based on the suggestions from Hill, the final plans McMahon sent to Oland and Scott deviated significantly from the original plans they were building off of. The redesign saw the hotel significantly enlarged, with the addition of three storeys for a total of seven floors, increasing the height of the lobby roof and the number of balconies, and added 12dormersin place the original fourgableson the hotel wings.[2]The new designs attempted to save as much of the existing construction as possible, with few design changes made to the first three floors of the building.[2]
The most significant addition in the new design plans however was the addition ofSwiss chalet architectural elementsto the hotel. The idea to draw upon this style was from Hill, who suggested it to McMahon after his trip to Europe.[8]This includes its tiers of continuous balconies withbalustrades,largebracketsupports for the balconies, steep pitchedgable roofs,intersecting gables, two-storey dormers, alanterncupola,and its brightly contrasting walls.[4][6]
Facilities
[edit]
The hotel building houses a number of guest rooms as well as twosuites.[9]The hotel also hosts food-services in the building, including theRoyal Stewart Dining Hall.[10]The formal dining hall features large windows overlooking Upper Lake Waterton, and hosts the restaurant'safternoon tea.[11]TheWindsor Loungeis a cocktail lounge that was carved out of the east wing of the hotel in 1960, replacing theMaple Leaf Lounge.The lounge was placed in the east wing in order to prevent passers-by on Highway 5 from viewing inside the lounge.[12]
History
[edit]The hotel was constructed between 1926 and 1927 and was built by theGreat Northern Railwayof the United States to lure American tourists during the prohibition era. It was named after thePrince of Wales(laterKing Edward VIII) in a transparent attempt to entice him to stay in the hotel on his 1927 Canadian tour, but the prince stayed at his own nearby ranch instead.
See also
[edit]
References
[edit]- ^abcDjuff 1999,p. 41.
- ^abcDjuff 1999,p. 48.
- ^ab"Prince of Wales National Historic Site".Parks Canada. 31 March 2017.Retrieved27 September2018.
- ^abc"Prince of Wales Hotel National Historic Site of Canada".Canada's Historic Places.Parks Canada. 2018.Retrieved27 September2018.
- ^Djuff 1999,p. 39.
- ^abDjuff 1999,p. 40.
- ^Djuff 1999,p. 42.
- ^Djuff 1999,p. 52.
- ^Scott, David; Scott, Kay (4 July 2013)."National Parks: Top upscale lodges".USA Today.Gannett Company.Retrieved27 September2018.
- ^Hempstead, Andrew (2018).Moon Canadian Rockies: Including Banff & Jasper National Parks.Avalon Publishing. p. 271.ISBN978-1-6404-9164-9.
- ^Byers, Jim (10 July 2015)."Exploring Waterton Lakes, one of Alberta's most under-appreciated national parks".Houston Chronicle.Hearst Corporation.Retrieved27 September2018.
- ^Morrison, Chris; Djuff, Ray (2005).Waterton and Glacier in a Snap!: Fast Facts and Titillating Trivia.Rocky Mountain Books Ltd. p. 147.ISBN1-8947-6556-7.
Further reading
[edit]- Djuff, Ray (1999).High on a Windy Hill: The Story of the Prince of Wales Hotel.Rocky Mountain Books Ltd.ISBN0-9211-0271-2.
External links
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National Historic Sites of Canadaby location | |
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