Landmark Building
ALBERTA HOTEL (CALGARY)
133/139 - 8th Avenue SW, Calgary
Designed By: J. Llewellyn Wilson
Built in 1888
','The Alberta Hotel', 'Source: Stephen Avenue and Area Historical Walking Tour <br />(© Alberta Culture and Community Spirit)'); "The Alberta Hotel")
One of Calgary’s earliest sandstone buildings, the hotel was popular among ranchers for their forays into town, and was home to a number of colorful characters who frequented its Long Bar, reputed to be the longest between Winnipeg and Hong Kong. It was a Calgary mecca, with a roster drawn from the full social spectrum. Regulars included William Roper Hull, Pat Burns, A.E. Cross and “Ma” Fulton, renowned for both her pigs and her ability to down a shot glass. Bob Edwards of the Eye Opener newspapers, famed for his scathing editorials, was also to be found here as was R.B. Bennett, who had his own table in the bar and lived in the hotel for a time. Gentlemen who lived on “American Hill” (what Mount Royal was called prior to the annexation by the City), sent their wives to San Francisco and points south, and moved into town to winter at the hotel.
The end of the era came in 1916, when Prohibition closed down the Long Bar and the hotel along with it. The building was then remodeled to serve as a retail facility; it was remodeled again in 1973 as part of an adaptive re-use project.
The original Romanesque Revival style building, designed by architect J. Llewellyn Wilson, featured a heavily rusticated sandstone façade with rounded windows framed by keystoned arches. A 1992 addition made to the east is dressed is smooth-faced sandstone, with rectangular windows, and a cornice of different style, lending the impression it is a separate building. Although the basic form of the original building can still be made out, little original fabric remains. The Long Bar is long gone, and the wooden structure was replaced with steel during the 1973 renovation. During that project, concrete simulating sandstone was used to extend the building, adding a balcony. Eight gargoyles from the demolished Herald Building were copied and used to decorate the resulting façade.
The Landmark Buildings and Places Database draws on the series of walking and/or driving tour booklets produced by Alberta Culture (now Alberta Culture and Community Spirit). The Heritage Community Foundation gratefully acknowledges the support of the Ministry through permission to reprint these materials online. Extracted from Calgary: Stephen Avenue and Area Historical Walking Tour. Alberta Culture, n.d., with permission from Alberta Culture and Community Spirit. Visit the Alberta Culture and Community Spirit for more information.