The Saskatoon Tunnel?

[joelpiecowye]

ok will i found this on wikimapia

Bessborough Hotel

The Bessborough Hotel, now the Delta Bessborough, was designed by Archibald-Schofield of Montreal. The finest Canadian materials were used; warm brick from Claybank in southern Saskatchewan, Tyndall stone from Manitoba, granite from Ontario, and bronzes from Toronto and Montreal. Sculptures of symbolic animals decorate the elaborate exterior finishing. Begun in the good times of 1929, it was finished in the bad times of 1932, and not formally opened until December 10, 1935, with 1,000 people at the opening dance.

It was the last of the grand railway hotels built in Canada; no more were built after the Depression. It was originally built by the Canadian National Railway, but sold to the Canadian Pacific Railway. It is currently owned by the Delta hotel chain, and remains Saskatoon's finest hotel. It is Saskatoon's most recognizable building and is featured prominently in tourist and promotional imagery. Legend has it that a tunnel once ran (and perhaps still runs) beneath 21st Street between 1st Avenue and Spadina Crescent, linking the CNR station and the Bessborough, and was used to bring baggage in for travellers staying at the hotel.

take a look on wikimapia if you dont believe me

i dont know how true this is because anyone can write in wikipedia but still wonder if this could be true. if it is true there would have to be an entrance somewhere in the bess. but would it be destroyed? if it is true and someone finds it would saskatoon expose it and make it a tourist trap like the moose jaw tunnels? i found it neat and if you have any info on it good or bad put it in the tread

[ReginaGuy]

That's neat, what's with Saskatchewan cities and tunnels?

I wouldn't be surprised if it were true

There are tunnels in Moose Jaw, of course, and Regina has some as well. Part of the reason the Royal Saskatchewan Museum on Albert street in Regina has such a large setback from the street is that they found tunnels under the front lawn

[molasses]

yes, apparently this is true, when the midtown mall was a train station, a tunnel ran from the station under 21st street to the bessborough, so that when someone arrived on the train, they could just casually walk down 21st to the bess and there lugage would sent through the tunnel and brought up to there room for them.....so, I'm not sure if it would be the most exciting tunnel...I believe it would have just been used by bellboys etc.

[CCF]

Yeah, I'm not sure it would be as exciting or as complex as Moose Jaw's tunnels. Plus there's no story behind it like in Moose Jaw, although that's pretty well fabricated.


Lucky MJ!

[1ajs]

does not surprize me infact the hotel fortgary here in winnipeg has tunels ruing from the old cn station to it.......

[BrannyMuffin]

I think that a lot of those old railway hotels had tunnels like that. Hide the help, I guess.

[1ajs]

Originally Posted by BrannyMuffin

I think that a lot of those old railway hotels had tunnels like that. Hide the help, I guess.

of course also a hell of alot esayer to move the lugage in the dead of winter.......

[joelpiecowye]

even though it was for luggage i think it would be neat if someone found it still in a good condition and mabey we could use it possibly if it is still there?

[CCF]

Originally Posted by joelpiecowye

even though it was for luggage i think it would be neat if someone found it still in a good condition and mabey we could use it possibly if it is still there?

Yeah, but what are you going to say about it? Moose Jaw has made there tunnels so successful because they have a story behind it, playing up the hype about Al Capone and their shady history of bootlegging, gambling and prostitution. Not to mention their tunnels are quite complex running throughout downtown....apparently they haven't even found them all yet either. Saskatoon wouldn't have the same story to tell, and that tunnel sounds like it just runs a direct route....I don't think people will pay money to walk a dark tunnel.

[Echoes]

CCF is right, this supposed tunnel just isn't nearly interesting enough to become a tourist draw. It's a neat part of Saskatoon lore and that's all.

At Best, it might warrant a small interpretive sign on 21st or perhaps as part of a historical display in the Bez.

[CCF]

Yeah, the fact that there is a tunnel is certainly interesting....but I don't think anything would be able to touch what Moose Jaw has...not to mention, I don't think Saskatchewan's tourism industry is big enough that we should be offering two types of the same venue.

[youngregina]

Originally Posted by ReginaGuy

Part of the reason the Royal Saskatchewan Museum on Albert street in Regina has such a large setback from the street is that they found tunnels under the front lawn

Thats not true. Actually, why the museum is set so far back is because during the late 1920's, a hotel was slated for construction. They had only completed the base of the bulding before the dirty thirties. The hotel ran out of money and materials and could not finish the job. Later on the royal canadian museum was built on the base of the incomlete hotel.

[1ajs]

Originally Posted by youngregina

Thats not true. Actually, why the museum is set so far back is because during the late 1920's, a hotel was slated for construction. They had only completed the base of the bulding before the dirty thirties. The hotel ran out of money and materials and could not finish the job. Later on the royal canadian museum was built on the base of the incomlete hotel.

realy?

[CCF]

Yep, it's true.

It was to be the Chateau Qu'Appelle Hotel, 10 story talls, and a fine looking hotel at that. It was the Grand Turck railway hotel.

WWI halted construction of the hotel, and the company went bankrupt in 1919. The material that had been erected was eventually taken down and used for the construction of the Hotel Sask in 1927.

Rather than changing around the foundation, they elected to just build the museum on what was already there.



Actually here's a wikipedia article on it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chateau_Qu'Appelle

Eeek, sorry for hijacking the thread!

[Echoes]

^Interesting.. I'd heard only a bit about the Chateau Qu'Appelle before now. It's very Fort Garry Hotel-ish.. no surprise though since the Grand Trunk built that hotel around the same time.

It would've looked mighty fine on the skyline.

[1ajs]

thats a shame t never got finished