The Prince Edward Hotel

Brandon Sun - ONLINE EDITION

Former managers differ on future of Prince Eddy

The Prince Edward Hotel at 100

By: Linda Budolowoski

Friday, Jun. 22, 2012 at 4:23 PM | Comments: 0

COURTESY THE BRANDON GENERAL MUSEUM AND ARCHIVE Enlarge Image

An undated colour postcard of the Prince Edward Hotel, this one distributed by the Brandon Magazine & News Co. Ltd. The trees in this photo obscure the building itself, much as its future was difficult to discern through the late 1970s.

A sample of the debate over the future of the Prince Edward Hotel, featuring two people with direct experience.

From the Brandon Sun on Oct. 18, 1979:

Former managers differ on future of Prince Eddy

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Linda Budolowoski, Sun Staff Writer

Two former managers of the Prince Edward Hotel have differing opinions about what should be done with the 67-year-old building.

Tony Griffin, who worked in the hotel from 1961-1971, says he does not think the hotel should be torn down, while John McFarlane, who was manager of the hotel when it was closed in 1975, says it should be.

McFarlane said in an interview Wednesday the hotel was closed because it was old and no longer viable.

"The work to modernize it would be atrocious. It was built for the old days."

But Griffin thinks the hotel could be viable again, and that it should be saved because it is important historically and aesthetically.

"But I may be a voice crying in the wilderness," he said in an interview Wednesday. "I don't know if there will be any pressure on the city."

Griffin said many people have told him the building shouldn't be torn down, "but unfortunately they're a silent majority."

He said the historical society should try to save the building because "it's unique in terms of the Prairies. There are very few like it.

"We learn from our past," he said. "It's part of the education for our young. All education costs money."

Griffin thinks the building is structurally sound, despite the fact that a structural study indicated it would cost an estimated $750,000 to upgrade it.

He compared the hotel to the old grandstand at the Keystone grounds which was torn down in 1975. "When it was torn down, they couldn't believe how sound the timbers were," he said.

The hotel was closed in January, 1975, and in April council decided to pay the cost of heating and providing electricity for the building to prevent frost damage, anticipating that it might become city property. But the heat was cut off in 1976.

"They (council) should have heated it," said Griffin . "If the heat had not been turned off, then the building would have been more attractive to prospective purchasers now."

But he said he also realizes that it would have been expensive to heat the empty building.

He said the interior may have deteriorated because of the lack of heat, but the steel and concrete would still be sound.

"The grandstand stood for 65 to 70 years in 40 below weather, and it was still sound."

He says that if nothing is done by the historical society, the industrial commissioner's office
should go farther to find a buyer.

And he said that tax incentive might have to be offered.

"I don't think the city went far enough to get people interested in it. You may have to go to the United States, or larger centres such as Toronto, Montreal or Vancouver."

Griffin said there was an offer to purchase the hotel from the former owners, A-T Hotels, in 1969 or 1970, but that it was turned down.

He said the offer was "sound" and was more than what was finally asked for the building in 1976.

Griffin said the plans were to turn it into a "picture place" — restoring several areas, including the Rose Room, the Main Dining Room, the Rotunda, the Oak Room and the Vice-Regal Suite, to their original condition.

"They were all unique because of the design and woodwork. But because of corporate tax reasons and a corporate decision, they decided not to sell."

Griffin said restoring the hotel to its original condition is still possible.

When he worked in the hotel, he said the average cost of a room was $18 and the average meal was $5.50. He said that if renovated, a room would cost $45 and a meal $15.

"It would work out as an economically viable properly and we would still have the historical site.

"Old buildings in Europe, the same type of buildings, have been bombed and are still useful today."

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