History
Built in 1913 by the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway, it is located one block from the railway's Union Station, and was the tallest structure in the city when it was completed. Like other Canadian railway hotels, it was constructed in the "château style" (also termed the "neo-château" or "châteauesque" style), which as a result the hotels became known as a distinctly Canadian form of architecture. The design reflects the François I style of hotel which became prevalent in the eastern United States at the turn-of-the-20th-century. Henry Janeway Hardenbergh initiated the architectural trend, with New York City's Plaza Hotel (1906–07) as his most well known structure. The Fort Garry Hotel has more than a passing similarity to The Plaza, related features include: the classic base, shaft, and capital divisions of the skyscraper; flat facades with slightly projecting, four-bay end pavilions; an arcade of large, segmented windows below a prominent cornice; and, the composition of the steeply sloped roofs. Architects Ross and MacFarlane of Montreal modeled their original plans for the hotel after Ottawa's Château Laurier; plans originally called for a 10-storey structure, but two floors were added during construction.
Initially, the new hotel was to be called The Selkirk, but was instead named after Upper Fort Garry, which once stood at the junction of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers. The hotel was built at a strategic location on Broadway, between Fort and Garry Streets, providing a luxury hotel for railway travelers; and was the first commercial building to be erected on Broadway and the only hotel to be built there. The hotel's early prominence led it to have many famous guests, including Nelson Eddy, Harry Belafonte, Charles Laughton, Laurence Olivier, Liberace, Arthur Fiedler, Louis Armstrong, Gordie Howe, Lester Pearson, as well as King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, who stayed during their 1939 visit to Canada.
The hotel, originally owned by the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway, was later owned by the Canadian National Railway. In 1979, the hotel was purchased by the prominent John Draper Perrin family of Winnipeg, who operated it as an independent hotel until 1987. It was then owned for a few years by a company controlled by Quebec hotelier Raymond Malenfant. Presently it is run as an independent hotel.
According to local folklore, the hotel is haunted.
Read more about this topic: Fort Garry Hotel
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