HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1979-05-10, Page 13rTl"J1kM4Fklri7'.•1R^C!
:
�Alte...r aborts ameenting to
nearly ,S100,000+more than
ten times the cost of building
the hotel in ,1895•, were
completed' this, week at:the
Cemmerciat Hotel,
The eMpletton, of the
latest in a series;. of
;Alteration' programs, hasre.
salted in the hotel presenting
one of the largest entertainv
ment . floors in the area and
the management will :of
licially mark the occasion' at
art: - • opening event on,
;$atttrday afternoons The new
lounge of'Apt; roxirna*el 0509
square feet in expected .to
aee9 modate bout 2O
guests
Special entertainment ;has.
been ,arranged for ,the
Opening period.
Under the mannm!e.: a n;
n _...g t Qf
gene and Nicole .Dupuis Who
took over the Commercial in
1976, major changes have
been, carried out on the
ground floor and in addition
to the laurtge area, include
,the provision of an attractive
dining room and modern
kitchen facilities.
The.„present renovation;
progrartn,at the Commercial
was, cotnjlted at a cost
p 11el estimated • Dupe syr (�h/ya�s
estimated attterlr y 100. 1.
The present Commercial
.. otel ori in„ i1 :: was erected
g a �'
in 1895, at ,,a vest +3
57;450.6Q folluwin g �+ :a lire
"The contract ":roc the
erection of an hotel to replace
the Cornmercial was let on
Monday last. The tenders on
the first plans :were all ton
high, and the plans were.
cg equently:altered and the
t der .
e� reconsidered. s n t red. The
work wilt all be done by town
Sontractors.
1
to
at the
Commercial Hater.
on your n.ewfy renovated' ou'nge
SEAFORTH
INSURANCE. AGENCY D
Seaforth. Ont.
to the..
Comm rcial Hotel
fro-:
Your Suppliers:
PEPSI COLA.
Rene & .Nico e
at the
Commercial Hotel
• on their .i eway repo, vated' aou.hge. .
e were pleased to have participated
in the renovations and wish
you every success.
Seaford 527-0649
49
"Pools ere not the only thlflg we do
Me. Frank
:Gut erid a had the bri.k
t. �"
work: Mr, J. ,H'. Broadfoot,
the carpenter work, and S.
Mullet and Co., plumbing and..
work. The con,
Oran `l'h w h o1 oe n.
tract amounts to between:
7,011(1 and $8.000, 'When,
completed it will be one of
whish -early that year rem-
, .
p
letely, 'lestr,Oyed an earlier
building. The' ;proprietor ,a't
that time was :the late :Alex
Davidson.
Since the :earliest days' of
the community 'a. hotel has,
ht •ilk';located pn the site Orae•
or the earliest heti Spar p.t "s
4.-01 .4 which; was :built int,
MO.
f
r$ti
The. Huron =Expositor of
April 21, 1895. describes the
fire which destroyed the
Commercial Hotel, leading to
then Construction fo the
present building;
'"The most disastrous fire
that has visited: Seaforth for
sortie time oeeurred early
.Wednesday morning, when
the 'Commereial1 Hotel,
billiard: and sample rooms to
the rear, were completely
destroyed, and the Bank of ..
Commerce was b;tdly
damaged KY tire, smoke and
water. So completely did .the.
fire do its work that only the
foundation of the billiard
room and the bare brick walls
i)f the hotel were left
standing.
"Shortly after 2 o'clock,
some of the occupants of the
hotel ' were`. awakened by
smoke,and on arising, found
that the building to the rear
was all in <flames, In the
excitement and hurry, it was
some time after that before
the: Lire alarm was sounded,
and in consequence the fire-
men were at" a decided
disadvantage. as the dry
frame building became a
most rapid prey, to the
flames. and was one 'mass of
dames` before the water
began to play on it. They
then' ..directed' all their
attention • to the hotel and
surrounding buildings, but.
although unable to save the.
hotel, the adjacent buildings
Wer Vis„ got well under
command,
"There was a strong wind
blowing from the northeast
and sparks were flying thick
onto the roofs' of the
buildings to the' south and on.
those across the street.. At
one time it looked: as though
the fire would conquer and
the ,,entire . corner was :in
HURON 'EX
1tTO R
'Y 1
The fire of 1$95 occurred
on th4 n ght of April 17, and
within+ weeks arrangern,ents•-
had. Wen made to rebuild the
hotel. The Huron Expositor
of M 17 ells o the contract
Maytells _la.
award.
the 'best equipped hotels m
the eOuntry."" .
,.Compinete tenders were.
s
yed
ercial
imminent danger, and! t was
only^ the hard and uticiring
work fo the firemen. assisted
by others. with pails, that
caved the. building from+
destruction cocerai times the
woodwork of the Bank, of
Commerce caught fire, but
WAS promptly extinguished.
'Sorapidly did the fire
spread in the 'hotel that very
little of the furniture was.
gotten, out and several of the,
boarders lost' parts o€their
clothing.. The private rootm$.
of the bank upstairs were
badly' damaged, mostly by
smoke. and water, ,although
most •of the clothing was
removed. The furniture and
fixtures itt the rooms
occupied by Mr. J.C. Greig.
were also damaged by smoke
and water, while Mrs,—Levi'
,•Wa:per, who also lives
upstairs, will bea heavy
loser, mostly from smoke and';.
water, MT. R. Logan's
bank, in the north corner of
the hotel building, wascom-
pletely demolished, but
everything protable had been
carried out. save the contents
of the vault and safe, and, as
these were fire proof, the.
contents were not damaged.
To the. south, Messrs. C,
Wilson`s.:grocery, and E.
Dawson's liquor store,' were
badly smoked and soaked
with water. Mr. John
.Smith's carriagestop was.
also scorched and he will Lose
considerable by the removal
of his stuff, Mr. A Davidson
had an insurance Of $7,000
on his buildigns, while Mr:
Bishop had 52;000' insurance
on the furniture. • The other
losers, except :Messrs, Logan.
and Greig, had also more or . .
less insurance,
"The' origin of the fire at
present seems a mystery, 'as
there had been no fire in the
billiard room, where the fire
started,for a, couple of days,
About 2 o'clock the hostler at
the hotel stables had gone to
the stable to get out a. rig, but.
no fire was ' visible then,
Night watchman Gillespie
had also been in that vicinity
only a shcirt time before the
fire broke out. The firemen
deserve great praise foc'''the
hard: brave work, which they
did, and had they been less,
Willing and worked less ef-
ficiently, the results would
have been much more
serious, Engineer Roberts
'also did 'his• part well by
keeping up a strong steady
pressure during the entire
progress of the fire, although
the firemen. had four streams
going allthe time,"
JAll WEEK
MAY 1 '4 19
lastenniq Sessions
Doily Ai 5
ALL;:JAZZ
RECORDS
ON SAIF: -
I
40 ONTARIO STREET
STRATFORD
We were very pleased to supply
.and install the carpet.
John 1i. firoadfoot, for
carpenter Olt -Fainting, and;
glax#ng. S3-.800; mason work,
l: Gutteridge, 53,400; iron
work. and... plumbing, ' S.
Mullet & Co., S250; total,
.prnount of contract, 57,450
Construction .proceeded
throughoutthe simmer, In
August. Mr. Davidson
decided to alter the plan and
to have water piped into the
hotel. The well in front of the
hotel was covered over and•
"water will be carried into it
by means of pipes," a story
at that time says, The work
was done by the firm. of Reid
ro€ Wilson.
A short: tittle later it was•
decided to lay the recently
developed
�ranotithic
walks ks
amiss the OntOfr#e hpte
and the town -street eom
;rttittee agreed to, extend the
new walk. to that street limit
As :an experiment. The cost
was:;not to exceed 5110.
By September the work
Was nearing completion, The.
Expositor of f ictQber 4, 1895,
reported: ""There was quite a
.ustle around the 'new
Commercial. Hotel! yesterday.
The carpets have arrived and
are being laid by a large
number of workers. Mr. .1 F.
Clark, of the Golden Lion, is
supplying the furnishings.
At the same time, it was
announce ;itf the
would be itall byt
And Abe; *Yidsot4 the Lail%,.
having •returned, from $t.
Paul, Minn,, to assuager the
position.; In a few we c%: }
was completed and Ilia hotel
opened: for business; on
t etober 21, 1895.
P ] C,I3iASED ilii 1192k,
he Dungey family
bereatttie nterest$ in the
property ;after the First War,
and in 192.E the late Charles
Dungey bought the hotel.
.f the then owner, h tlt the late:
Mex McLennan. The hotel
continued'to be operated' by
members of the Dungey
family until 1963..
Rene_ & Nicole
on the newly renovated
Commercial Hotel
o el
We were very pleased
to have done the- masonary work
Peter Jansen
Egmond.v.ille;
• 527=0208
to
Rene '& Nicole & Staff
at the
ommerciol Hotel
on their newly renovated lounge
We were pleased, to have been the suppliers.
of the building material
BUILDING CENTRE
Seeforth
ene &. Nico e
owners of the
Cornmercial� Hotel'
on completion of the renovation work
We were pleased
to. have .leen the contractors.
for the
;plumbing heating and wiring