Update: I will be adding a number of new articles here once my move up Vancouver Island is complete. If there are particular BC hotel/bars or saloons from our past that you would like included in my research please let me know by emailing me at g_mofford@yahoo.com. Thank-you for your interest and keeping the history of our old hotels alive.
Glen Mofford

History of the Malaspina Hotel, 1927-1984

History of the Malaspina Hotel, 1927-1984

By Glen A. Mofford

   At one time it stood tall on 38 Front Street, towering over Nanaimo harbour like a beacon of hope with promises of a dynamic and stable future, the Malaspina Hotel opened in July, 1927 to an appreciative public eager to embrace what would soon become a familiar landmark in the Hub City for many years.

Those of you that lived in Nanaimo and are familiar with the hotel, probably have your own stories and memories of the place. This article will highlight some noteworthy moments in the history of the old hotel, from its optimistic beginnings, until it ceased operations as a hotel in 1984.
So come along for a trip down memory lane and enjoy some poignant moments in the history of the Malaspina Hotel.

 

 The Malaspina Hotel was conceived by local business men who formed a syndicate called the Nanaimo Community Association in 1926. The Board of Directors consisted of people from a variety of occupations such as a merchant, a car dealer, a lumberman, a druggist, a barrister, and a sanitary engineer, with the sole purpose of raising money to build a modern hotel that would help advance and promote Nanaimo.[1]  Frank Cunliffe was President of the Association for twenty years and President of the Nanaimo Rotary Club in 1926-1927.[2] In addition to providing a first-class hotel to the growing tourist trade, the new hotel had a convention centre for club and organization meetings and served as a social hub in the community.

 The hotel was originally named the Nanaimo Community Hotel,[3] but shortly before its opening a contest was held to rename the new establishment. Various choices were submitted by the public including: the Bayview, Lucky Strike, Unity, Alhambra, Gibraltar, Hub City, King George, Majestic, Pleasant, Rio Grande, and the Malaspina Hotel. The clear favourite was the Malaspina Hotel and on July 27-30, 1927 the new hotel opened its doors.

The hotel was designed by Sharp & Thompson and constructed by Ryan Contracting Ltd. at the cost of $$220,000. Both firms were from Vancouver.

The luxurious seven-story Malaspina hotel opened with 86-rooms, many with an excellent view of Nanaimo Harbour. It offered its guests a banquet room, a beauty parlour and barber shop managed by W. Herbert Bate, a cigar store managed by Albert E. Miles, a Ladies and Men’s reading room, the Palm Room, and a business lobby. The Guest Rooms were adorned with elaborate light fixtures with richly carved wood-work and tastefully furnished with all the modern conveyances available at the time.[4] Harry Fall was the first manager of the hotel followed by E.A. Leach in 1929-1930, A. Brown, 1931 to 1933, Thomas Stevenson, who held the job for ten years between 1934 and 1945 and Fred J. Fall who managed the hotel from 1946 to 1950, succeeded by Mr. & Mrs. Russell M. Annett.

Business was good in those first few years but slowed dramatically after the stock market crash of 1929 and the onset of the Great Depression.

It didn’t help matters that the Malaspina was a temperance hotel and therefore didn’t collect monies from the sale of intoxicating liquor like many of its nearby competitors. Hard times brought hard choices and the Board of Directors quickly realized they would have to open a beer parlour to attract more business and to remain competitive.

 

 In 1938, in hopes to further improve the hotel and attract customers, management decided to commission three artists to paint a series of murals inside the hotel.

The hotel used the federal government artist assistance program to hire Edward J. Hughes, Paul Goranson and Orville Fisherand to paint six large murals on the hotel's plaster walls in exchange for free meals, room and board until the works were completed.[5] The threesome formally called themselves the Western Canada Brotherhood but among their friends they were known as the Three Musketeers. I mention the fate of these beautiful murals later in this article.
 
At the end of World War II, an addition, designed by A. Les Barley, was added to the hotel allowing for 35 more rooms.[6]
On May 24, 1949, local radio station CHUB, 1570 on the AM dial with 250 watts went on the air broadcasting out of the Malaspina Hotel banquet room.[7]
“At one time CHUB had live shows from the Malaspina, complete with bands and singers. The hotel was, in its heyday, pretty swank - ballroom and all.”[8]
CHUB continued to broadcasts from the hotel until April 15, 1968 when it relocated to its new studio on Esplanade Street in town.

By 1954 the Malaspina Hotel was twenty-seven years old and the new owner, Ray Knight, felt it was time for some upgrading. He began extensive renovations to bring the landmark hotel up to date.[9] This was the first of many renovations that the hotel would go through over the next number of years. The changes made in the 1960’s were particularly damaging to the murals as walls were removed and doors were cut out of walls. "The assault continued when the hotel banquet room was partitioned and renovated to accommodate a beauty salon and a broadcasting studio for a local radio station. During the renovation, Goranson’s magnificent mural of Malaspina and Maquinna was covered over with brown paint."[10]

By 1970 the City of Nanaimo was all a buzz about their unique event, the Bathtub Race, which left from Nanaimo Harbour and ended at Kits Beach in Vancouver. The Malaspina Hotel was front and centre during the celebrations. The local radio station, CHUB announced the race from the roof of the hotel and a fleet of out-of-town yachts were moored at docks at the foot of the hotel.

In the 1970’s the Malaspina Hotel had a first class restaurant, a cocktail lounge and a beer parlour. Later on the beer parlour became known as the Jingle Pot Pub and the waterfront ramp was removed and replaced with a stairway which led to the renovated pub located in the basement. I’m sure those of you that are reading this article can shed some light on the pub that was once in the hotel as I never had the pleasure to imbibe there but certainly wish that I did.

Stanley “Stan-the-Man” Strazza was owner-operator of the pub in the twilight years of the hotel, 1979-1984. Stan mentioned that the pub was going through a transition from a sing-a-long style British Pub to a disco style pub – the going trend at the time.

By 1984, after 57 years, the Malaspina stopped operating as a commercial hotel and the hotel was sold to a company which hoped on opening a hospitality college with guests in the rooms, restaurants, pub and lounge being served by students but that ambitious idea was never realized and the old hotel sat empty for many years.

The Malaspina Hotel held out a new beginning and a source of pride for the town of Nanaimo when it opened in 1927. It continued to provide first-class accommodation and a great room with a view for many years until time and neglect took its toll on the grand old hotel. For those who remember the hotel fondly it was a place of joy and local pride and that is something the wrecking ball will never erase.

---

[1] Patrick A. Dunae, Malaspina: The Hotel, the Murals & the Madness of Modernity, Department of History, Malaspina University-College, December 29, 2005 Website: http://web.viu.ca/black/amrc/index.htm?Research/Papers/dunaepaper.htm&2

 

[2] Rotary International, Nanaimo Chapter, Club Runner, page 13.

Website: http://www.clubrunner.ca/Data/5020/387/HTML/112178//club_service.pdf

 

[3] Wrigley’s British Columbia Directory, 1927 Diamond Jubilee Edition, page 223.

 

[4] Jan Paterson, Harbour City: Nanaimo in Transition, 1920-1967, Heritage House Publishing Company, pp.52-54.

Also see, Patrick A. Dunae, Ibid.

 

[5] There are numerous accounts and information on these now famous murals some of which can be found here:

 Bellaart, D., Hughes mural was lost, found, condemned and saved, Nanaimo Daily News, April 17, 2009

Nanaimo Art Gallery, http://www.nanaimogallery.ca/exhibitions_more.php?detail=33

Patrick A. Dunae, Malaspina: The Hotel, the Murals & the Madness of Modernity, Department of History, Malaspina University-College, December 29, 2005 Website: http://web.viu.ca/black/amrc/index.htm?Research/Papers/dunaepaper.htm&2

  

[6] City of Nanaimo, “Les Barley. Born in England in 1911, Les Barley came to Nanaimo, via Toronto, in 1948 to work as an architectural assistant for Thomas McArravy. Barley eventually became partners with McArravy and later with Weismiller. During his career, Barley worked throughout the mid-island, designing institutional buildings including the Legion on Wallace Street, an addition to the Malaspina Hotel, Nanaimo District Secondary School, Bowen Park Complex, the Nanaimo Golf Club House and numerous schools. He retired in 1977.”

http://www.nanaimo.ca/assets/departments/community~planning/heritage~planning/heritage~register/commherreg.pdf

[7] see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CKWV-FM

 

[8] Posted by CHUBer on the Nanaimo Information Forum, see: http://www.nanaimoinformation.com/forum/showthread.php?2929-Malaspina-Hotel-Cursed/page4&highlight=Malaspina+Hotel

 

[9] Jan Paterson, ibid, page 54.

 

[10] Patrick A. Dunae, Malaspina: The Hotel, the Murals & the Madness of Modernity, Department of History, Malaspina University-College, December 29, 2005 Website: http://web.viu.ca/black/amrc/index.htm?Research/Papers/dunaepaper.htm&2

The Last Round - Beer Inspired Poetry

An Ode to John Barleycorn

 

 

My bar is now torn down,
back to the dust from which it came
The street is changing,
never to be the same

 

My glass is now empty,
never to be filled
the dance floor is gone,
past activity stilled

 

Good-bye old friend
my port in the storm
a place of youthful memories
it's loss few will mourn

 

And as your walls come crashing to the ground
I'll keep in my heart all those good times abound
of my favourite table, in my favourite place,
something the wrecking-ball will never erase.

 

I guess I'll move on to another spot
and I'll lift my glass for the last time with a final thought
a toast to all the good times that I enjoyed through the years
with friends old and new and too many a good beer

The Douglas Street Motor Inn Bars, 1957-1966

This article is about the history of five emerging Motor Inn's and their respective beer parlours that were built along the Douglas Street Corridor from 1957 to 1966. These include: The Colony Motor Inn, The Ingraham Hotel, The Imperial Inn, The Tally-Ho Motor Inn and The Red Lion Motor Inn. Enjoy - I welcome your comments.

 

 

The Douglas Street Motor Inns, 1957-1966

 

By Glen A. Mofford

 

The 1950's and 1960's were prosperous years in Victoria. Upper Douglas street businesses sprung up where there had previously been nothing but grass.

The trans-Canada highway was completed in 1962 with Douglas Street at Beacon Hill Park being Mile zero. A building frenzy that catered to the automobile began in the early 1960’s as the Town & Country Shopping Centre – 225,000 square foot outside shopping mall, opened in August 1961 with plenty of parking and the Mayfair Shopping Centre opened in 1963.

The Victoria Capital Improvement Commission spent the equivalent of 1.7 million dollars on improving and widening the Douglas Corridor provided that both Victoria and Saanich eliminate a number of left hand turns and on-street parking.

Between the years 1956 and 1965 five Motor Inns’ were built on a six mile stretch of Douglas Street, from Discovery to Tolmie: The Colony Motor Inn (1957), The Ingraham Hotel (1960), The Imperial Inn (1961), The Tally-Ho (1961), and The Red Lion Motor Inn (1965).

This article will look at the history of these motor hotels and their drinking establishments.

 

The Colony Motor Inn, 1957-1993

The Colony Motor Inn, circa. 1971

The Colony Motor Inn was built between 1956 and 1957 in a mock Tudor style with Robert and Viva McClure as Managers. The motel was located at 2852 Douglas Street just north of the round-a-bout where Government, Douglas, Hillside and Gorge Roads met.

The new motel offered one of the best restaurants in town famous for their steaks, seafood and chicken dinners. The actor Bob Hope dined at the Colony Motor Inn when he came to town. The restaurant was opened seven days a week from 5 PM until midnight.

The large Colony beer parlour was added later on the south side of the existing structure. There were two entrances, one for Ladies & Escorts and one for Men with a half-wall that divided the room. By 1964 separate entrances were no longer required by law and with the half-wall gone the room was quite large.

The Colony had ample parking and on a Friday and Saturday night the lot was usually full as thirsty patrons filled the beer parlour.

The beer parlour at the Colony was decorated in a mock-tutor style with red, black and gold coloured carpets. The bar was on the south wall with the two entrances on either side. There was a walk-up on the north side of the room where additional tables and where the washrooms were located. There was a stairway on the west side of the beer parlour which led down to the smaller cocktail lounge – later called Amity’s Lounge.

The beer parlour was a busy and popular place and there was no shortage of arguments and fights. Most fights were short-lived with very little damage to property and the combatants, but some were brutal. Most fights began in the beer parlour and spilled out into the parking lot. There was usually a fight every weekend back in the early 1970’s. The Bounty Hunter’s Motorcycle Club had their clubhouse on Hillside Avenue and the Colony was only blocks away.

The Colony Motor Inn showing the beer parlour in the foreground, circa. 1971

Photograph Source, City of Victoria Archives (CVA) #98205-25-45137

 

From 1954 onwards the rules for beer parlours were liberalized and were relaxed. The Colony beer parlour became the Brass Rail and for entertainment came the strippers and live bands.

The hotel and its drinking establishments such as the Brass Rail, Amity’s Lounge and the Cavalier Room, continued to do a good business throughout the 1980’s. The Brass Rail Pub purchased a large number of television sets which were lined up along the wall above the bar as sports, and cheap beer continued to attract the blue collar crowd.

The Colony Motor Inn closed in 1993 with the promise of a newer and better Hotel to be rebuilt on the site.  

During the early years of the Colony Motor Inn another motor hotel was under construction just up the road. It was to have the largest beer parlour in British Columbia when it opened in 1960 – that was the Ingraham Motor Inn.

 

 

The Ingraham Motor Inn, 1960-2003

For a more complete history of the Ingraham beer parlour please view my article, A History of the Ingraham Beer Parlour, 1960 to 2003.

 

 

In 1959, Victor Ingraham hired Farmer Construction to build his new motor hotel at 2915 Douglas Street – just a few blocks northeast of the Colony Motor Inn.

Victor Ingraham had a great deal of experience running hotels as he once owned a hotel in Yellowknife, NWT and then ran the Arbutus Hotel in Courtenay before moving to Victoria and building the Ingraham Motor Inn.

The building cost a million dollars at the time and it contained the largest beer parlour ever built in British Columbia at the time – know as a beer barn. It was very popular. Like all beer parlours in BC during the early 1960’s, the Ingraham had separate entrances for Men and Women with Escorts. An ingenious half-wall kept the room divided but the wall was on wheels and two waiters would move the wall to the emptier side of the room as one side, usually the men’s, filled up. This would satisfy the law at that time as well as make money for the owners.

The Ingraham, or as it was later called, the Ingy Sports Pub, was a favourite place for the blue collar crowd. Most occupations from the Police, to firefighters, to milkmen and so on, had their own section in the beer parlour.

Victor Ingraham died in 1961 and his son, Len took over the business. This is when the emphasis on the sports bar began. Len Ingraham sponsored a number of local sports teams – from baseball to car racing, Len earned the nicknamed Mr. Hospitality as all sports teams were welcome to the Ingraham Hotel.

 

The Ingy Sports Pub in 2000.

 

Unlike many of the local hotel pubs, the Ingy Sports Pub never had strippers in their bar. Sports and excellent service filled the massive pub for years and their parking lot was full on a Friday and Saturday night.

There were fewer fights at the Ingy Sports Pub when compared to places like the Colony or Red Lion. The Ingy had four pool tables and two long shuffleboard tables which received a lot of use.

The Ingy Pub plus the Big I cabaret and the lounge lasted into the early 2000’s – the pub closing in August 2003 when the new owners decided to open the largest private liquor store on the Island. The old customers still talk about and miss the Ingy Sports pub and retell stories of spent there.

The regular patrons of the Ingy found new places to enjoy a beverage and many of them moved their business to the Tally-Ho Motor Hotel just a few blocks to the north of the Ingraham.

 

The Tally-Ho Motor Hotel, 1961-2011

 

 

 

The 50-room Tally Ho Motor Inn opened at 3020 Douglas Street in 1961. Along with the beer parlour the new Motor Inn also had a cocktail lounge named the Tack Room and a restaurant.

Like all the new beer parlours attached to the Motor Inn’s, the Tally-Ho provided ample parking in the back lot. The Tally-Ho was unique in that the same back lot once served as a marshalling yard for the famed Tally-Ho horses that operated in downtown Victoria.

Inside the beer parlour was large with a half-wall that ran from the west wall entrance to the east wall where the bar was located, divided the room between the sexes as was the law at that time.

Tables were covered with terrycloth to absorb spilled beer and the cost of a glass of beer was ten cents.

The cocktail lounge was called the Tack Room, a name in keeping with the horses theme, and one can still see that name etched in iron on the doorway into the lounge from the downstairs side entrance.

 

 Entrance to the Tack Room Lounge
 

The Tally-Ho beer parlour was popular with the blue collar crowd as its location was only a few blocks from the massive BCFP sawmill that once dominated the Gorge area. Thirsty mill workers, bus drivers, local small industry workers and others would fill the tables at the Tally-Ho after work and particularly on Friday nights and Saturdays. Like the saws at the mill – the place was humming.

By 1974 the new owners, from Vancouver, introduced strippers to the pub. This move was a mixed blessing as many curious customers enjoyed the addition while some regular patrons grew tired standing in line for a beer and decided to take their business to the Ingraham Hotel which did not have strippers. But in spite of these minor changes the Tally-Ho did well.

In the early 1980's during the 'Disco Craze' the pub was very busy as an addition of a large dance floor attracted crowds of young people dancing away to Saturday Night Fever. Although business was still good, the owners felt that they had better change with the times in order to attract new and younger spending customers so an addition of a large gazebo in the middle of the room was built around 1984-85 by a local carpenter named Jerry. It was an instant hit as young disco dancers strutted their stuff to canned music.

 

 Long time employee Linda, running the bar in the pub -

Linda started part time in May 1974 and worked until

 the pub closed in September 2011.

Meanwhile the strippers were gone and the bar was moved to the south side of the room. Pool tables now occupied the east side of the room where the original bar was. The west side of the room had a lovely brick fireplace and brick wall.

The Tally-Ho Pub was eventually leased to Bill Murphy, a long-time bartender of the Crown & I Pub in the Imperial Inn. Bill leased the pub and the lounge and changed the name to Murph’s Place Pub.

Parking lot entrance to Murph’s Place Pub

Murph’s Place, still referred to as the Tally-Ho by most patrons, was arguably the last of the beer parlour style pubs in town. In January 2008 a glass of draught beer was still only $2.00 and Bill Murphy had been leasing the place for almost four years.

Other than the name, the place hadn’t really changed except that prices slowly creped up as the clientele dwindled. Outside influences such as the smoking bylaw and the cost of doing business made the price of beer no longer cheap and plentiful. By 2010 a nine ounce glass of draught beer cost $2.45 and by November 2011, $2.75 per glass - so much for the working man’s beer.

 

Some of the regulars that called the Tally-Ho Pub their home

In June 2010 the hotel was up for sale. Rumours began to circulate that the pub, a union house, may be closed for good. By the spring of 2011 the hotel did sell for 4.9 million to a Vancouver Company. The new owners had their own plans and one was to rid the pub of the Union.

On September 30, 2011 after 50 years the pub, closed its doors.

Bill Murphy, who had been in the business for 39 years finally retired.

He was a long-time employee of the Imperial Inn’s Crown & I Pub which is the next motor Inn we will be discussing.

  

The Imperial Motor Inn, 1961-1991

 

The Black Bull Lounge at the Imperial Inn

The Imperial Inn, located at 1961 Douglas Street opened around the same time as the Tally-Ho in 1961. The building design had a unique Sino-Japanese theme complete with bonsai trees and Asian sculptures.

The new hotel had the Black Bull Lounge and for a few years offered patrons a unique experience in the Gilled Cage, a kind of British Pub complete with sing-a-longs and for the daring one could purchase “a yard of ale”. The pub was located where the conference rooms are today just left of the main entrance and lobby of the hotel.

The Gilded Cage featured pianist June Day and Fran Dowie, who both had a background in theatre in England. They led in the sing-a-long and provided entertainment to an appreciative audience. But the show was short lived and after it closed the owners of the Imperial Inn decided to open a larger pub facility on the east side of the hotel and which would open as the Crown and I Pub.

 

 The Gilded Cage – a sing-a-long in a British Pub atmosphere.

 

 

The Crown & I Pub proved to be very popular, especially during the 1970’s and 1980’s. Its close proximity to the Memorial Arena allowed many sports fans to enjoy a beverage before and after an event at the new pub. Word spread and the place did a booming business.

Unlike the Sino-Japanese theme for the hotel, the Crown & I was decorated in black and red. The pub had a mild medieval knights theme. There were two pool tables and dart boards in one corner. The room was rather large with quite a number of tables covered in orange or red terrycloth. Music was popular rock which we know today as classic rock and the place filled up on Friday and Saturday nights.

 

The Imperial Inn at 1961 Douglas Street in 1969.

 





I recall going there a few times with friends and we have to get there rather early in order to get a seat. Service was quite good with an ample amount of waitresses and male bouncers made themselves visible to remind party-hardy patrons that there would be consequences if they got out of control.

The pub offered a full menu and the food was good, cheap and plentiful.

 

As the years rolled by the Crown & I Pub was leased by new management and became the Ice House. Strippers and black walls completely changed the look and the feel of the place – from a pub atmosphere to a club. I didn’t care for the change or the inclusion of strippers into my old haunt.

Fortunately the Ice House didn’t last too long and a new lessee, who had moved from across the street above Paul’s Restaurant, replaced it with Soprano’s Karaoke & Sports Bar.

 

Entrance in the back to Sopranos Pub, 2010

 

 

The old Imperial Inn is now called Capital City Centre as it was purchased by Wally Eng and the Red Lion Group in December 2011 after the previous owner had declared bankruptcy. The new owners have since replaced the aging furnishings and have plans to further renovate and improved the hotel. The cocktail lounge was renamed, Splash but the pub is still leased out, at least for now. The future looks promising for this 52 year old hotel.

 

Capital City Centre, 2012

 

The Red Lion Motor Inn, 1965-2001

The Red Lion Motor Inn, February 1967

 

The last of the Motor Hotels to be built along the Douglas Street Corridor, for the purpose of this article, was the Red Lion Motor Inn which opened at 3366 Douglas Street on Wednesday April 28, 1966.

The new motel cost about two million dollars and offered guests 80 deluxe rooms, two lounges, restaurant dancing nightly at the Tower Lounge and the Drummer's Lounge, which featured a cozy atmosphere complete with a fireplace. Attached to the south side and downstairs in the motel was the 350-seat Block & Tackle Beer Parlour.

A distinctive large tower was erected that held the Tower Room where dining and dancing took place nightly from 5:30 PM to the Irvin Lang Trio. Tony Ing was drummer in that "house band" in the Red Lion.

There was also the Lions Den Restaurant. Ken G. Hole was the manager of the motel in its early years.

 

The Red Lion Motor Inn certainly had its own theme, very much like the Crown & I Pub in the Imperial Inn, it was decorated in a medieval theme described by Avis Walton in her travel book, About Victoria and Vancouver Island, “Decor throughout the Inn is post-and-beam, antique brick, wine-red carpets…a handsome building with a tall tower emblazoned with a red lion rampart.”

 

The new Red Lion Motor Inn

 

I remember the first time I entered the Block & Tackle Beer Parlour. It was in the summer of 1972 and I worked across the street at A&W on Douglas. My girlfriend and I were a year underage but didn’t have a problem getting served a few beers. I looked around at all the bright red terrycloth tables and noticed that the wall were covered in fishing nets, floats, fishing blocks and pictures of fishing trawlers and fake wooden fish. It would be another three years before strippers were brought in as entertainment when the beer parlour would eventually become the Red Fox Pub, known for its strippers. Beer was still cheap in 1972 at 25 cents a nine ounce glass and service was top-notch.

It wasn’t until 1975 that I frequented a few of the local pubs which include the Red Lion Pub. The place did a roaring business [no pun intended] and the addition of strippers initially resulted in an influx of new customers, just as management had intended.

 

 

The Red Lion Motor Inn enjoyed a booming business for right up to one tragic night in that took place in November of 2001. That was the night the most of the Red Lion Motel burned to the ground.

 

On Saturday November 10, 2001 at 1:15 AM a fire was reported burning in Diego's Lounge located above The Fox Pub. Within an hour Diego's and the Red Lion's Cold Beer & Wine Store were completely engulfed in flames. The Victoria Fire Department stabilized the inferno after hours of fighting the blaze, but the damage was done and the Red Lion Motel was destroyed save for the west wing.

Fire has historically been the most common cause for a hotel to be fully or partially destroyed. There was some talk of rebuilding but it took seventeen months before new owners came along and rebuilt the Red Lion Inn which re-opened April 9, 2003. It looked very much like the old place with a large pub, restaurant and lounge but the owners were not permitted to reconstruct the tall tower from the original hotel as height restrictions would not allow it.

 

                                  Old Red Fox sign just before fire destroyed the motel

 

The 'new' Red Lion Motel in 2005

 

 The five Motor Inns that were build along Douglas Street from 1957 to 1966 provided their customers with a place to rest, a variety of music and entertainment, and a place to meet friends and enjoy themselves for years to come. Indeed the first of these motels that closed was the first to open – the Colony Motor Inn which closed in 1991. But for over thirty years people had the opportunity to enjoy what these places of pleasure provided. Like the popular music of the day, these great old places were classic in their own right and are remembered fondly by most who were lucky enough to be there.

 

 

Note: This article is in the first draft stage. More information will be added over the coming months. Your contributions will certainly help paint a more complete history of these great old motels. 

 

 

 

 



 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Arabian Chic: A History of the Century Inn, 1965-1986

By Glen A. Mofford

Logo for the “Inn at Centennial Square”

The 1960’s was a time of optimism in Victoria. The economy was booming, unemployment was low, prices were reasonable and the future looked bright. Victorians celebrated the Garden City’s 100th birthday in 1962 and the following year saw a major redevelopment of the lands surrounding City Hall called the Centennial Square Project.
It was during this time of economic growth and renewal that the new owners of the Westholme Hotel, located at 1415-1417 Government Street, southwest of Centennial Square, submitted plans to expand their hotel to fit into the spirit of the Centennial Project.
The new hotel was named the Century Inn and from its’ opening in November 1965 and for the next twenty years the ‘Inn at Centennial Square’ would provide fine dining, live entertainment and luxurious rooms all within a setting of an Arabian theme.
This article will trace the history of the Century Inn as we take a peek behind the beaded curtains of the new Arabian theme hotel and examine how changes throughout the years eventually led to the hotel’s demise in 1986.
Before the Century Inn was constructed there was the Westholme Hotel. The three story Westholme Hotel was built in 1911 and located at 1417-1419 Government Street between Johnson and Pandora Streets. The Hotel-bar was to the left of the entrance to the hotel when and the liquor license was transferred from once famous Driard Hotel.
A handsome three story brick and stone building just north of the Westholme, housed the Prince Saloon from 1907 to 1912 and occupied the Southeast corner of Government and Pandora. That building was home to a variety of businesses over the years until it was demolished in 1964 to make way for the expanding Westholme Hotel.In September 1954 the Kings Beer parlour and the Westholme beer parlour opened on the same day, each becoming the second beer parlours to open in the city of Victoria. A few months earlier the Drake Hotel Beer Parlour opened on the corner of Store and Johnson Streets.

 

           

                                             Westholme Brochure, ca. 1920                     

Pandora Avenue was realigned as part of the revitalization and the McPherson Playhouse Theatre with adjoining restaurant was expanded to the corner of Government and Pandora.
Across from the theatre, located on the southwest side of Pandora and Government sat the newly renovated and enlarged Westholme Hotel reopened in November 1965 as the Century Inn. The new hotel advertised itself as “The Inn on Centennial Square”

                       The Westholme Beer Parlour in 1961, CVA #CRS170-2687 M01366

Cormorant and Pandora streets before and after the completion of the Centennial Square Project.
The grand opening of the Century Inn turned into a three day gala event from November 17, 18 and 19, 1965. The 63-room Century Inn was decorated in an Arabian theme from the decorations on the walls to the dress of the employees. Customers to the hotel were greeted by employees dressed as genies, complete with turbans. The street outside the hotel was modified to allow easy access by the driving public who would simply glide under a colourful canopy and experience “the magic carpet valet service.” Waitresses served patrons clad in mysterious and revealing Scheherazade costumes. Lawrence of Arabia would have felt right at home.

Century Inn Employee in costume Inside the lobby of the Century Inn
Inside the lobby of the new hotel was a miniature working model of the Centennial Square fountain. Fine dining was featured in the exotic Persian Room where one would dine in an atmosphere of eastern opulence. Besides the Persian Room, the hotel features included the Oasis coffee shop, the Rubaiyat Room, Ali Baba’s Cocktail Lounge and the Centurion beer parlour. A cabaret was planned to open in the near future.
At the time the Arabian theme was unique, fresh and new in the city of Victoria and was well received by a curious and appreciative public. The Century Inn was a huge success.

                                    The Persian Room Dining within an Arabian theme.

H.R. Hutchinson, known as Moe by his friends, managed the Westholme and its’ successor the Century Inn from 1964 until his retirement in 1976. ‘Moe’ Hutchinson was a capable manager who guided the new hotel through the inevitable changes and adjustments that occurred throughout his twelve years tenure as manager resulting in sound, steady growth and substantial profits for the owners.
The Centurion Beer Parlour was an important revenue generator for the new Century Inn. The beer parlour reopened in the space where the old Westholme bar was located on Government Street. The original Westholme beer parlour was the second beer parlour to open in the city in September 1954 and those patrons now went to the new Centurion beer parlour. The restrictive and antiquated liquor regulations had been relaxed by 1965 and although separate entrances for Men and Ladies with Escorts still existed, the inclusion of food, radio, television and a larger brighter atmosphere attracted new customers.
By 1962, by a change in the Indian Act, Aboriginal persons were finally allowed to drink in local beer parlours and lounges. By 1968 separation of the sexes was no longer a legal requirement while the signs remained over the entrance way of most beverage rooms for years reminding patrons of an antiquated past.

The Centurion Beverage Room lasted from November 1965 until 1982 when Ron de Montigny purchased the hotel. De Montigny and the new hotel manager, Ted Anderson previous owner of a hotel in Okanagan Falls, renovated the pub into a country bar named the Buckin’ Bronco.Anderson saw an opportunity to cash- in on the country music craze that was popular at the time. The Buckin’ Bronc featured live country music bands, complete with a huge barrel of shelled peanuts, hay on the floor and a mechanical bull where many an inebriated urban cowboy or cowgirl would take up the challenge to ride the bull with usually hilarious results. It wasn’t long before the owners realized the potentially serious legal problems that could arise if a patron got injured riding the bull and eventually everyone who wished to take up the challenge signed a waiver before falling off onto their head.
Like all fads, the novelty of the Buckin’ Bronc Country Pub quickly lost its’ appeal and by 1984 plans for a new and exciting replacement were in the works.

A lavish and enormous renovation of the 200 seat pub took place in the fall of 1984 by owner Ron de Montigny. A generous use of solid Oak, mahogany and brass was used in the construction of the multi level pub with no attention paid to cost or cost over-runs. A model about half the size of an original of a World War One Sopwith Camel bi-plane was suspended from the ceiling and distinctive light standards were added to give the room a Victorian feel.
This new neighbourhood-style pub was better than most in the city at the time and initially competed very well against the bars of the day.

                         Monty’s Pub and Restaurant Extraordinaire: Sparing no Expense

Ron de Montigny spared no expense during the massive renovation of the pub and he went on to renovate the nightclub and the rest of the hotel which were completed in November 1984.
As if having the most luxurious pub in town wasn’t enough, de Montigny began work on Monty’s Club 40, a three hundred seat nightclub was built next door to the pub designed provide patrons with a unique disco experience previously known as the popular 40 Thieves Disco then for a brief time named Decca Dance, which adjoined to Ali Baba’s Lounge. Party-goers would get to the new disco early but still ended up standing in a long line. Admission costs were reasonable but one had to adhere to a strict dress code.

               Advertisement for the 40 Thieves Disco from the Greater Victoria Directory, 1979.

By the spring of 1985 renovations were completed and both establishments were opened. Monty’s Pub and Monty’s Club 40 initially did a roaring business. Crowds of curious customers wanted to see what the fuss was all about as word of mouth spread about the opening of these two new and exciting venues. Meanwhile the lounge and the dining room did a good business attracting a loyal clientele.

The optimism of the spring and the success of the summer business began to wane as 1985 came to a close. The first signs of financial trouble came in December 1985 when payments to contractors and the previous owners defaulted. The situation deteriorated when it became obvious that Ron de Montigny was unable to pay his debts which quickly culminated in bankruptcy in March 1986. The Hotel went into receivership and the assets reverted back to the partnership of Mark Hambrook and Gary Fisher who sold the Hotel to de Montigny back in 1982 for 2.5 million dollars.
The Century Inn closed its doors in March 1986 leaving 28 people out of work.
Hambrook and Fisher looked for a quick sale.The demise of the Century Inn just over twenty years after its optimistic beginning can be attributed to a number of factors, the main one being that de Montigny over-extended himself and spent far more than he could afford or could hope to recover. Another, minor factor for the bankruptcy lies in the nature of the business itself, trying to keep up with an ever-changing and fickle nightclub scene where new clubs and cabarets would come and go in many cases just lasting for a few months.

                                           The Victoria Plaza Hotel, August 2005

The hotel eventually sold and the name changed to the Century Plaza Hotel then simply to the Victoria Plaza Hotel. Monty’s Pub exists today as Monty’s Exotic Showroom Pub where strippers perform and patrons pay too much for their pint of beer. The nightclub has also survived by continually re-inventing itself and going through a number of rebirths as is the nature of that business. Any paraphernalia from the original Century Inn are lost in some dusty boxes forgotten in the basement of the hotel and in the memories of those who once enjoyed a fleeting period of time now gone.