9660 Jasper Avenue, Edmonton Alberta
Jasper East Village Main Street Project
The Lodge Hotel (Pendennis Hotel from 1904-1920) and the Brighton Block (originally known as the Ernest Brown Block) were 2 buildings in the Jasper East Village Main Street Program, 1999-2002. During this period, a number of buildings on 97 Street and Jasper Avenue participated in façade restorations. The Lodge Hotel and the Brighton Block facades were designated as municipal historic resources and their brick facades and storefronts were restored to their original appearances.
In 2006, these 2 buildings were purchased by the Ukrainian Canadian Archives and Museum of Alberta (UCAMA) and the process of adaptively re-using the Lodge Hotel as the home for the new museum began. There were extensive renovations to the interior of the building which revealed that the original wood-frame Pendennis Hotel was, in fact, still intact behind the 1910 brick façade. It was necessary to make extensive interior renovations to accommodate UCAMA. Unfortunately, the museum project was never completed and in December 2020, the Lodge Hotel, now known as the Pendennis Building, was taken over by new owners.
The historic Pendennis Building on Jasper Avenue has a long and complex history. The story starts with an 1898 photo of the original building we found in the Edmonton Archives. This confirms that the original building dates from at least 1898 and is probably older. An Edmonton Bulletin article dated August 22, 1904, states that the Pendennis is a new hotel in downtown Edmonton, formerly known as the “old California Rooming House….On the ground floor opening onto Jasper Avenue is the bar which is handsomely fitted up and the office. A particularly good feature of the hotel is that besides the large dining room, there are several smaller dining rooms where private families, or persons who prefer to stay in the seclusion of a small room, may have their meals served to them…”
The first proprietor of the Pendennis Hotel was R.B.Cronn, as reported in the 1905 Henderson’s Directory. It is reported in the Edmonton Bulletin that as of November 16, 1905, Nathan Bell was the proprietor. But in the 1907 Henderson’s Directory, Harry T. Finch is reported to be the proprietor. The Edmonton Bulletin, April 24, 1908, reported that “The Pendennis Hotel property…has been purchased by Mr. N.(Nathan) Bell of Calgary. Mr. Bell has for past 8 years been manager of the Alberta Cigar Co. Ltd. and also secretary of the Riverside Lumber Co. His purchase at a big figure shows his unbounded confidence in Edmonton, where he will take up his permanent residence…”
From the Edmonton Bulletin, February 7, 1910, it was reported that Andrew Roy had purchased the hotel from Nathan Bell, but it was then reported on March 28, 1910 that Andrew Roy “Strangely disappears from the city….He has partially completed the purchase and went to Winnipeg to make further financial arrangements, having paid over $1,000 to date.” As a consequence, Nathan Bell retained ownership and planned a substantial addition and renovation later that year. Architects Lang, Major and Company from Calgary designed the new brick façade and the addition to the east, doubling the size of the hotel. The original Pendennis Hotel, dating from at least as early as 1898, was incorporated intact behind the new brick façade, comprising approximately 50% of the hotel floor area. The Pendennis Hotel had a fine reputation, with an upscale dining room, the menu of which was advertised in the Edmonton Bulletin.
The Pendennis existed as a hotel until 1920 when it was turned into a 44 room apartment under the name “Stanley Block”. Later it became known as the “Kenmo Lodge”, owned by Ethel Mary Kennedy and Stenner Mogan – Ken & Mo.
2007 Renovations
The interior renovations in 2007 revealed the existence of the original wood frame building behind the brick façade. In the process of demolishing the interior, several hundred artifacts were uncovered that date from as far back as 1879-80. They are widely varied and range from historic maps and brochures to materials originating from California in the 1890s and early 1900s. There are numerous papers and artifacts that date up to the 1950s. All of these found items are a record of the inhabitants of this building and to the early development of the City of Edmonton.
Consultants for the Jasper East Village Main Street Project and UCAMA Project, Investigation Stage
David Murray Architect, in collaboration with HIP Architects, Allan Partridge, partner