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Edmonton has a complicated relationship with its heritage buildings. Like a number of Canadian cities, the post-war migration to the suburbs and the skyrocketing popularity of the private automobile favoured sprawling fringe development at the expense of the downtown core. The historic Alberta Hotel was one of many victims of "progress." But unlike most heritage buildings that were unceremoniously trashed, the prestigious structure that lodged Prime Minister Wilfred Laurier on the eve of Alberta's inception in 1905 was carefully dismantled piece by piece, with the aim of advancing the building's life on another site.
The history of the hotel can be traced back to its humble beginnings as Luke Kelly's Saloon, a one-storey wooden structure opened along Jasper Avenue in 1883. After four years of operation, Kelly constructed a two-storey addition and renamed the establishment the Alberta Hotel. It wasn't until 1903 that the four-storey brick and stone building, topped by a corner turret, debuted on Edmonton's main street. The original wooden edifice, destroyed by fire and replaced in 1934, was moved northwards and attached to the back of the new building.
Local pressed brick and Calgary sandstone gave the building its exterior identity. Designed by James E. Wize and built by Fred Jackson and Del Grierson for $55,000, the Victorian Romanesque design conferred a certain elegance and majesty to the hotel. The curved tower extended 75 feet into the sky up to a fifth storey observation room wrapped in rectangular glass windows. The base of the tower was accessed via solid oak doors and opened onto an ornate rotunda connected to a dining, billiards, and card rooms.
A building of superlatives, the Alberta Hotel boasted the province's first passenger elevator, and became the first hotel in Edmonton to install shower baths, telephones, and a call-bell system. It was also the first four-storey building in the city and the first prominent brick structure to be built along Jasper Avenue.
When the distinctive pink Canada Place was proposed on the site of the eminent property, it marked the end of the hotel. But it certainly wasn't the last time the building, or at least the facade, would see the light of day on Jasper. Though the building was demolished in 1981, its brick, sandstone, cupola, and cornice were all saved.
In 2010, Five Oaks Inc. and Dub Architects launched a project to reconstruct the facades fifty feet west of the previous site. A new internal network of steel would provide 50,000 square feet of commercial space, while the historic hotel bar would be faithfully rebuilt in its original spot within the hotel. In addition to reinstalling salvaged interior artifacts like mirrors, wall tiles and ceiling components, the nearby Rothesay Building facade was also rebuilt and integrated along a pedestrian mews linking Jasper Avenue to the Arts District. A modern glassed addition is set behind the historic facade, ensuring the original materials reclaim their proud position along the street.
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