King George Hotel

Description of the Historic Place

The King George Hotel is a five-storey building located at 157 2nd Avenue North. Constructed in 1911 the building now functions as a mixed use commercial building. The building has been a historic feature in Saskatoon’s downtown for over 100 years.

Heritage Value

In 1910 there was a notable lack of sufficient hotel accommodations in the city.  A group of investors in London, England committed to fund the development and construction of a first class luxury hotel in Saskatoon. Designed by Brown and Vallance, the King George Hotel officially opened in January of 1912 by owner and general manager C.W. Underhill.  The original five storey brick hotel was designed in an early gothic style of architecture; featuring statuettes of terra cotta medieval knights and quaint stone figures throughout the brickwork to give the structure a unique appearance. The hotel’s interior contained a marble staircase and an oak finished interior.

Over the years, the hotel had a series of financial ups and downs, with the first hit occurring during the First World War when prohibition came to Saskatchewan. The hotel successfully recovered, only to suffer again with the onset of the Depression in the 1930s. With the opening of the Bessborough Hotel in the mid-1930s, the King George Hotel was also no longer considered a first class luxury hotel. The hotel did however manage to survive and build a successful business reputation with travellers, farmers, and country merchants.

The King George Hotel has experienced a number of physical alterations over the years. In 1914, architects Daniel & Colthurst made an addition to the hotel. In the 1960s renovations and expansion allowed for additional dining room space, a cocktail lounge, a cafeteria and a mixed beverage room. The exterior facade was renovated with green and white ceramic mosaic tile (which included the removal of some of the unique statuettes and gargoyles of the original hotel). Interior and exterior renovations were also made in 1975 and again in 1990. The building suffered fire damage in 1979 and again in early 2004. 

In 2007, an extensive restoration and redevelopment of the historic King George Hotel was undertaken. The conservation project was awarded the Sensitive Infill Municipal Heritage Award under the City’s Heritage Awards Program in 2010. Although the original brick exterior was still present underneath the green and white ceramic tiles that were cemented to the building in the 1960s, it was impossible to restore the façade to its original condition during the renovation.  

Today the King George Hotel consists of retail on the main floor, office tenants on the second, and luxury residential condominiums above. The building is representative of the booming hotel industry when Saskatoon was first becoming established, and it is one of the few original hotels left from that time period.

Source: City of Saskatoon Built Heritage Database

Character Defining Elements

Key elements which contribute to the heritage value of this historic resource include:

• Those elements that reflect its historical importance including its symmetrical form; corner towers; parapet roofline; and original location in the City’s downtown.