More than a century old, Calgary’s iconic Alberta Hotel is now a haunted wine cellar

Step back in time to the late 19th century and enter the grand Alberta Hotel, a sandstone masterpiece nestled in the heart of Calgary’s historic district, where the whispers of the past are said to still haunt its halls.

The Alberta Hotel is an iconic landmark located in the heart of Stephen Avenue. Built between 1888 and 1890, the sandstone retail and commercial building played a significant role in the city’s rich history.

“It’s symbolic importance is its central association with Calgary’s pioneer era and it is the oldest remaining hotel building,” says Josh Traptow, CEO of Heritage Calgary.

“It was known as the male mecca as there were a lot of ranchers, businessmen, and local personalities who would visit the hotel.”

High society

The hotel earned its reputation as a gathering place for high society, and was one of the major structures built after the great fire of 1886 where flames engulfed the city’s Parish and Son flour and feed store.

Following the fire, city council passed a bill requiring public buildings to be built with non-combustible material, and sandstone was a natural choice as Calgary sits on a sandstone vault.

“That’s why Calgary became known as the sandstone city,” Traptow says.

The Alberta Hotel contributed significantly to Calgary’s social life in the early 20th century.

It is rumoured that the idea for the Calgary Stampede was first discussed in George Lane’s room at the hotel, according to Traptow.

Lane was one of the “Big Four”, comprised of wealthy Alberta cattlemen Patrick Burns, George Lane, A. E. Cross, and Archibald J. McLean. The group founded the Calgary Stampede.

“Other Big Four members stayed there, like A.E. Cross and Pat Burns,” Traptow adds.

Notable guests

Another notable guest was R.B. Bennett, a prominent Calgary attorney who later became prime Minister, lived in the hotel for 22 years and dined at the same table daily.

The 125-foot-long bar was one of the hotel’s most famous features and was purportedly the longest bar between Winnipeg and Vancouver.

“It was the place to go,” Traptow explains, adding the hotel faced some challenges and setbacks during its history.

“I believe it closed as a hotel in the 1930s, which I would imagine was probably due to the Great Depression.”

The Alberta Hotel is a crucial part of Calgary's original commercial core.

“Largely in the 1890s, Calgary was much like a boom town. It started to get hotels once the railroad came in and started to develop as more of a Western metropolis,” Traptow says.

“It’s a fascinating building, just given its age. The people that would have stayed there, the deals and the conversations they would have had, the fact that the Calgary Stampede was likely birthed out of conversations in that hotel.”

Years of transformation

Many years later, there have been multiple changes to the building, largely to the interior in order to accommodate businesses such as The Cellar Wine Store.

A modern wine and spirits store, The Cellar has incorporated historic elements of the Alberta Hotel into its overall aesthetic.

“Our storage closet—we call it the safe room—is actually an original door from the Alberta Hotel,” says Susan Bloor, manager at The Cellar, who also points out the sandstone.

The Cellar’s tasting bar is also made from reclaimed wood from the hotel’s floor joists and the elevator shaft.

“We’ve got harvest tables that are from the reclaimed wood, and you can actually see a contractor's handwriting and the date on one of these pieces of wood,” Bloor adds.

Stories of years past

The historical setting enhances The Cellar’s overall customer experience as they listen to stories of the past and sip on wine.

“When we point out the signature, people are always quite in awe of the signature that's from the contractor and the dates,” Bloor says, adding they also enjoy educating customers on the history of the building.

Bloor says that despite this rich history, operating a modern business in an older building has its challenges, pointing out that the Wi-Fi signal doesn't reach through the sandstone walls.

“You need that Wi-Fi,” Bloor says, adding it can’t be upgraded due to the building’s original wiring.

A spooky history

The Cellar has also collaborated with Ghost Hunter Alberta (GHA) to investigate the building’s eerie history.

“They talk a lot about the history of the building,” Bloor says.

“And what may have been back in the day when the building was first built and the kind of people that would have been hanging out here.”

The investigations have revealed varying results, with staff members reporting strange experiences in the original boiler room, which staff calls the “ghost room.”

Bonnie Milner, head of the GHA, reassured the staff that sandstone is a natural transmitter of electromagnetic frequencies.

A paranormal site

The Alberta Hotel has been a site of paranormal activity for years, and Milner believes the basement area is where most of the activity is taking place.

“The main thing that we think has led to the hauntings at the old hotel building is the basement area where the wine cellar is located,” Milner says, adding her research helped her discover that the basement was used as a laundry facility and housing for staff.

“At that time a lot of the staff lived and worked at the hotel.”

Milner says workers’ living conditions were not up to today’s standards and it wasn’t uncommon for entire families to live in the basement.

The main reason the GHA was called in to investigate three years ago was because an employee witnessed a woman and child sitting on the floor in one of the storerooms.

“She thought it was actual people in the building and started towards them and then realized she could see through them. Their mouths were moving, but she couldn’t hear what they were saying,” Milner says.

History of gambling, prostitution, and murders

Since then, no one else has seen the woman and child, but the paranormal investigators have documented activity in and around the area where the mother and child were seen.

“There’s a table in one of the tasting rooms right off the storeroom and people have experiences where, if you’re at a dinner party and the kids are playing under the table, they'll feel movement under there and people get touches on their legs,” Milner says.

The investigators have also experienced phantom smells such as lemon and lavender, while some have witnessed a hooded apparition and experienced electrical issues.

Milner believes that the hotel’s history of gambling, prostitution, violence, and racism could have attracted spirits to the site.

Between 1902 and 1906, there was a string of unsolved murders in the Steven Avenue area, and most of the victims were prostitutes.

“This was all completely unsolved. I couldn’t find anything other than a few news articles because nobody cared,” Milner says.

“That all kind of lends to possible energies that can attract spirits or psychic imprints in the building that made us think it was worth pursuing.”

Talking to history

The Alberta Hotel’s intriguing past and the mysteries it holds make it a valuable piece of history to be cherished and safeguarded for generations to come.

Milner and her team continue to investigate the paranormal activity there. They believe there is more to be uncovered about the site’s history and the ghosts that haunt it.

“I love being able to go into these old buildings and literally sometimes get to talk to history,” Milner adds.

GHA is hosting a paranormal investigation at The Cellar on May 5 for those interested in learning about the work the organization does.