19 January 2008
Landmark Celebrates 100th Birthday
One of the most photographed locations in Victoria basks in
the
magical light at dusk.
Victoria Vancouver Island British Columbia - Would a name
like the Van Horne, Alexandra, or Camosun have had such lasting resonance?
All were put forward by Victorians as possible designations for the awe-inspiring new hotel being built next to their
city's harbour in the early 1900s. The hotel owners - the Canadian Pacific Railway - had invited the local input in the naming of their
west coast landmark, but ultimately went with a more regal sobriquet of their own choosing. The Empress.
The Empress Hotel, now the Fairmont Empress, reaches the century mark today, an occasion that turns a well-deserved
spotlight on a fabled piece of the city's past. The 100-year milestone has been generating plenty of reaction from the
public, said hotel general manager Roger Soane.
"Everyone seems to have a memory of something or another, or memorabilia."
Administrative assistant Cathy LeBlanc said much of that memorabilia is being passed along to the hotel.
"We've been receiving a lot of the original menus from the early 1900s up to the '30s. And we just had a photo sent the other day
that was taken of our culinary team in 1908."
Heading up the list of birthday events today will be afternoon tea in the newly renovated tea lobby. Of all the guests enjoying the
elegance of the moment, none will be more deserving that Phyllis McCaw, who is also celebrating her 100th birthday today.
"It's quite a coincidence," LeBlanc said.
Phyllis, who has lived in Victoria since the age of five, is being treated by the hotel. She will be accompanied by a large group of
family and friends.
Afternoon tea has been part of the Empress experience since it opened in 1908. Celebrity sippers through the decades have included
Ginger Rogers, John Wayne, and Shirley Temple, and royals ranging from Queen Elizabeth II to the King of Siam.
Close to 100,000 people come for tea each year.
One guest who dropped in but didn't stay for a spot of Earl Grey was the cougar who decided to take refuge in the hotel parkade in
March, 1992. The wayward beast was captured by conservation officers and released unharmed in the forests of the Cowichan Valley.
Aside from the tea lobby, Empress guests have many other areas to explore. Hallmark Society president Nick Russell said he enjoys just
about everything the hotel has to offer.
"I love the Bengal Room, especially those curries," said Russell, whose organization is at the forefront of heritage
preservation in the city. "I also love the whole structure. I've been privileged to get up into the attic and down into the
basements - they're fascinating and they're all part of this historic building."
He said he wanders through the hotel a few times a year "just for the pleasure of it.
"It's an amazing place. It's built on wooden pilings, on a dump, basically. They backfilled the bay and put it there, it was a
colossal flight of imagination to consider doing something that bold."
Victoria Mayor Alan Lowe said all of the public gatherings he attends at the Empress give him a definite connection to the place.
"I like the Palm Court. I've had so many events in the Palm Court that it's almost like a second home. And when they opened up the
stained-glass dome, that really added to the character of that room."
A distinct sign of the centennial will be the nostalgic menu themes in the Empress Room, where the year will see such food offerings
as "Classics from the Past", "Favourites of Francis Rattenbury", and "Dining During the Prohibition
Years."
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