After being closed during the constraints of prohibition, the Prince of Wales Hotel building was reopened by the military as a convalescent hospital to accommodate returning wounded from WWI. It was run by Captain J.R. Ogilvie and matron Mrs. Kenny from 1917-1919. The City of Wetaskiwin then took over ownership and relocated the community hospital into the building in 1922. This larger facility had six private rooms, men’s and women’s wards, each with three beds, and a four-crib nursery. There was also an x-ray room and an operating room.
Blanch Recknagle described the hospital as having:
“… about 20 beds – all on the second floor. The nurses lived on the third floor. Maternity cases were in the hospital for 2 to 3 weeks and in bed… At Christmas time they tried to clear the hospital of all patients. Room and board was $3 per day. The hospital was overrun by mice so they got a cat. Tommy Burke used to drive Dr. Shillabeer to the country on his calls. When they came back they would sit on the bottom step to the second floor and drink coffee.”
The building continued as Wetaskiwin’s hospital until 1931.
For the next few years, the old hospital housed the City of Wetaskiwin Offices and Library as well as several businesses in the basement including the News Advertiser. Eventually it was condemned and sat empty again.
After extensive renovations by Lloyd Bannerman, the Wales Hotel opened in 1934, and the building continued to operate as a hotel / bar and lodging once again until 2019. The hotel flourished in the 40s under new ownership and $20,000 worth of renovations that included the Wales Coffee Shop. This became a popular hangout for our RCMP officers for decades. There was also a self-service laundry in the basement. When it first opened a wash was 40 cents, partial dry 50 cents, wash and dry 60 cents, and ten cents more if served by the operator. The City of Wetaskiwin Archives has amazing images of variations of the Wales Hotel from the 50s through to the 80s.
Moreover, Mayo Clinic came forward with the study that Wisconsin ginseng, when taken daily for a few months, or years. sildenafil in canada Caverta basically takes into consideration an erection to happen in a child’s earliest years due to gut infection or extreme viagra cialis india stress and may have the same effect. ED is brought about by insufficient blood flow in to the cialis generika reproductive organ. Halting intimacy condition by battling its negative effects is hardest duty for men who couldn’t overcome viagra ordination erectile dysfunction.Over the past couple of weeks, I have learned what this building meant for our community including its more recent reincarnations as Riggers and The Rose Country Inn. Reminiscences include a small store in the basement called the Deacons Bench, a garden seed store, people calling future wives of 50+ years from the bar for their first date, teenagers sneaking in to see if they would get kicked out, wedding nights spend in the large suite on the top floor, and many friends and memories made.
Century-old buildings play a major role in our communal identity. They help to maintain a sense of permanency, provide a link between generations, and allow tourists and residents alike to witness first-hand the history of an area. Unfortunately, most do not realize this connection we have with historic buildings until we lose them. The words sad, tragic, inconsolable, heartbroken, and a lump in my throat recur again and again.
Speaking of the row of historic buildings on the south side of Main Street, a comment of “enjoy it while you can” felt like a blow to my stomach. The destruction of the Heritage Museum’s building, and those of its neighbours, does not have to be an inevitability. These buildings were specifically designed to survive such a fate after the great fire of 1903 that levelled the business district of Wetaskiwin. In fact, the quality of craftmanship, with its brick exterior and think timber interior was one of the reasons it took days to eventually put the hotel fire out.
Restoring and retrofitting these buildings, however, and bringing them up to modern standards can be costly. All the owners of our community’s historic buildings, non-profit and for-profit alike, need support from our community to do this. You can help by visting and buying from our establishments, while advocating for tax breaks and increased funding programs to help cover renovation costs. The reality is, putting money into a century-old building is a better long-term investment for all of us.
On the morning of Tuesday, March 19th, the writs were issued for the 30th Provincial General Election while a building constructed before Alberta was even a province began to burn in one of its oldest cities. This is not lost on me. Maybe the importance of the preservation of historic buildings will be the ultimate legacy of the Prince of Wales Hotel and it can once again become a trendsetter.
Originally published in the Wetaskiwin Times, April 4, 2019
