Canadian National Railway 1923–1988
When the Grand Trunk became part of the Canadian National Railway in 1923, the Château Laurier became one of CN's most important hotels. In addition to serving hotel guests, the Château Laurier has also served over the years as the home of two important Ottawa institutions. From July 1924 to October 2004, the building housed the local English- and French-language radio stations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) on the top seventh and eighth floors. Celebrated portrait photographer Yousuf Karsh maintained his studio and residence at the Château Laurier from 1972 to 1992.[2]
In 1929, a CA$6 million east wing addition by Montreal architect John Archibald and CN's architect John Schofield along Mackenzie Avenue added 240 rooms. Although the exterior of the addition had a French-inspired design, the interior lobby resembled that of an English or Scottish baronial hall. It featured dark oak panelling, a railed gallery overlooking the double-height space, and trophies of the hunt. The lobby led to a convention hall, music room and gentlemen's lounge. The ballroom featured a vaulted ceiling, columns and rich drapes. The ultra-modern kitchen was designed to cater to up to 5,000 people. The Jasper Tea Room, designed by Edwin Holgate in 1929, featured Pacific Coast aboriginal art, columns carved into totem poles surrounding a dance floor, and lamps decorated with motifs of bears, eagles and crows. From 1929 to 1991, the Canadian Grill was a softly-lit and dark-panelled below-ground restaurant where diners ate the specialty, roast prime rib of beef au jus and danced to live music.[2]
In 1930, the hotel added a 60-foot (18 m) indoor pool in Art Deco style. In the 1930s and 1940s, the "therapeutic" spas offered electric therapy, ultra-violet ray lamps and alternate streams of hot and cold water to clients with nervous afflictions, polio or back problems.[2]
For years, the hotel thrived, playing host to royalty, heads of state, political figures, celebrities and members of Canada's elite. R. B. Bennett lived in a suite in the hotel during his term as Canadian prime minister, from 1930 to 1935.[6]
In the early 1960s, radio and television host Alex Trebek lived and worked in the Chateau Laurier.[7]
During the 1960s and 1970s, the construction of numerous competing hotels in the capital, as well as the closure of Union Station, led to a slow decline in the Château's fortunes.
In 1965, the Jasper Lounge was redecorated to resemble an English tavern called the Cock and Lion featuring oak and old brick walls. The union protested management's decision to replace the male waiters with young women in low-cut tops to serve in the new pub, but they lost the case in court.[2]
In March 1968, Graham Nash and Joni Mitchell stayed at the Chateau while performing concerts in Ottawa. Nash visited Mitchell's room, where she played him 18 of her current songs. Soon thereafter, the two began a romantic relationship that would be chronicled in the songs "Willy" by Mitchell and "Our House" by Nash.
In 1981, the hotel was designated a National Historic Site of Canada.[8] The Westin Hotel opened across the street in 1983, and the owners undertook a CA$21 million renovation in the 1980s to refurbish and renovate the Château Laurier, thus restoring its position as Ottawa's pre-eminent hotel. They added a new porte-cochère on Wellington Street, lightened the lobby's dark wood and removed the animal trophies and barbershop. The fourth floor featured a separate lounge and concierge desk. The smoke shop was transformed into the Reading Room, and a skylit boutique mall replaced the Cock and Lion lounge. In 1985, Zoe's Lounge, named for Zoé Laurier, Sir Wilfred Laurier's wife, opened in a new glassed-in area overlooking Rideau Street.
By 1991, Peacock Alley, a spot for socializing and "to see and be seen," situated on a wide corridor on the main level extending along the west side of the hotel, was replaced by the elegant restaurant Wilfrid's. This new restaurant offered impressive views of the Parliament Buildings, the Rideau Canal locks and the Ottawa River.[2]
