Formerly located on Rosser Avenue between 7th and 8th streets in Brandon, a five-storey brick building was designed by local architect William Alexander Elliott and built between 1903 and 1904 as a three-storey building for hotelier David Wilson Beaubier. When it opened in May 1904, the Empire Hotel featured 40 bedrooms.
In 1905, Brandon police chief James Kirkcaldy resigned to become co-owner of the hotel in partnership with James Smith. In 1909, the hotel was purchased by Albert Edward Evans who, the following year, had an additional two storeys added to the building by contractor Charles Wesley Hall at a cost of about $22,000. The addition almost doubled the number of rooms. On 23 July 1910, during construction of the addition, a fire broke out that gutted the near-finished work. High winds on 27 July blew off some of the additional floors from the building. On 3 August, a crew commenced rebuilding the hotel and it officially reopened in November 1910.
In 1915, the American retailer F. W. Woolworth Company moved into one of the ground floor retail spaces and bought the entire building in 1929. The building continued to be owned by F. W. Woolworth until 1957 when it demolished the building, along with the neighbouring Fleming Block, to construct a new Woolworths store that remains at the site today, albeit being used for other purposes.
Empire Hotel (circa 1909) by William Martel
Source: Illustrated Souvenir of Brandon
Empire Hotel (circa 1910)
Source: Lawrence Stuckey fonds, S. J. McKee Archives
Empire Hotel fire (23 July 1910)
Source: Lawrence Stuckey fonds, S. J. McKee ArchivesSite Coordinates (lat/long): N49.84858, W99.94833
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Memorable Manitobans: William Alexander Elliott (1866-1957)
Memorable Manitobans: David Wilson Beaubier (1864-1938)
Memorable Manitobans: James Kirkcaldy (1866-1957)
Memorable Manitobans: James Smith (1858-?)
Memorable Manitobans: Albert Edward Evans (1873-1938)
Memorable Manitobans: Charles Wesley Hall (1866-1945)
Called to the Bar: An Historical Geography of Beverage Rooms in Brandon, 1881-1966 by Doug Ramsey and John Cater Everitt
Manitoba History, Number 56, October 2007
“Brandon’s progress - Manitoba’s Wheat City has had notable developments during the year,” Manitoba Free Press, 31 December 1910, page 27.
We thank Christy Henry (S. J. McKee Archives) for providing information used here.
This page was prepared by Jordan Makichuk and Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 4 September 2024
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