Background
In the 1870s, a restoration project began in Quebec under the British governor general of Canada aimed at restoring the capital to its former 17th century look. One of the contributors to this project was Lord Dufferin, who supervised the construction of the old city wall and many public buildings that followed the theme of old, medieval, European Quebec. Dufferin also made a plan to reconstruct the Château Saint-Louis which was located on the cape where the Château Frontenac currently stands and served as the home of the French governors from 1620 to 1834.[18] Dufferin's plan did not take off until the City Council and the Board of Trade adopted the idea and planned to instead construct a grand hotel on the site to attract upper-class tourism to the area, but after failing to finance its construction, businessmen from Toronto and Montreal with connections to the Canadian Pacific Railway took control of the project.[18]
1890s–present
The Château Frontenac was completed in 1893, and was designed by American architect Bruce Price and overseen by William Van Horne, the Canadian Pacific Railway's general manager and a key developer of the Canadian railway hotel system.[18][19] The hotel was a part of a series of Châteauesque-styled hotels built for the Canadian Pacific Railway company during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.[10] The last of the Canadian Pacific Railway's Châteauesque hotels was completed in 1908, leaving the rival company Grand Trunk Railway to continue the trend.[20] The hotel was expanded in 1924 to designs by William Sutherland Maxwell. The 1924 expansion saw the addition of the hotel's central tower, which was built by Anglin-Norcross of Montreal.[6] The hotel was named after Louis de Buade, Count of Frontenac, who was the Governor General of New France from 1672 to 1682, and again from 1689 to 1698.[13] The World War II Allies met there during the First and Second Quebec Conference (in 1943 and 1944 respectively). During these conferences, officials including American President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill, and Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, discussed strategy for World War II.[13]
In 1993, the hotel saw another expansion, with the addition of the new wing that included a pool, fitness centre, and outdoor terrace.[11] On June 14, 1993, Canada Post issued a 'Le Château Frontenac, Québec' stamp designed by Kosta Tsetsekas, based on illustrations by Heather Price. The $C0.43 stamp features an image of the hotel building, and has a perforated edge and is 13.5mm square. Printed by Ashton-Potter Limited.[21]
In 2001, the hotel was sold to Legacy REIT, which is partially owned by Fairmont, for $185 million.[22] The hotel was renamed the Fairmont Le Château Frontenac in November 2001, shortly after Canadian Pacific Hotels reformed itself as Fairmont Hotels and Resorts, taking the name of an American company it acquired in 2001.[23] In 2011, the hotel was sold to Ivanhoé Cambridge.[24] Shortly after acquiring the hotel, Ivanhoé Cambridge announced an investment of $9 million for the restoration of the building's masonry work, and the replacement of the building's copper roofs. The company further announced another $66 million investment for general improvements and renovations throughout the hotel.[25][26] When the roof was being replaced, an image of the roof was printed on polypropylene safety netting and hung from scaffolding to hide the refurbishing project from view.[27]
