Banff Castle - Banff (Click here for another picture)
The Banff Springs Hotel is a world-renowned symbol of Canadian hospitality and all due to the vision of one man, William Cornelius Van Horne. Van Horne became the General Manager of the Canadian Pacific Railroad in 1881 and endeavoured to have the railway system across Canada completed five years ahead of schedule. He recognized the tourist potential of the hot springs near the station of Banff and set out to build a hotel that would cater to every need of a traveller. Van Horne chose the confluence of the Bow and Spray Rivers as a possible site and Bruce Price of New York as architect. Construction work began in the spring of 1887 and the original Banff Springs Hotel was ready to open by early summer 1888. The four-storey wooden structure was christened with the name in reference to the nearby hot springs. The completed structure had cost about a quarter of a million dollars to build and rates were $3.50 per night. Van Horne's philosophy, Since we can't export the scenery, we will have to import the tourists, set Banff tourism on its way. In 1903 the west wing of the original structure was duplicated and a one-storey wooden passageway joined the two buildings. A year later, the building was expanded again with a tower on the end of either wing. However, with the number of tourists increasing astronomically, the need for a larger Banff Springs Hotel was apparent. Walter Painter was hired to architect the central tower and the style was Scottish baronial with a hint of French chateau. The outer face of the central tower was finished in Rundle Rock. Sixteen years later Canadian Pacific Railway authorized nearly two million dollars for the destruction of the wooden wings and their replacement by rock-faced, fireproof structures. The south wing was torn down and reconstructed during the winter of 1926/27. A 100 room Tudor annex was built at the end of the 1925 season to accommodate regular guests while the wing was replaced. The north wing burned down before the 1926 season and money was provided for its immediate reconstruction in the summer of 1926. The Banff Springs Hotel was finished as it appears today in 1928. The furniture was made by the Montreal company of Castle and Son Manufacturing and the pieces are exact replicas of original period pieces from European castles and manor houses. The Banff Spring Hotel is now an Historical Site.


Picture from CP