Construction is set to begin any day now on Revelstoke’s Ramada Inn hotel, however most of the work won’t be visible until the spring.
Representatives from the City of Revelstoke, Canwest Hotels, and Horizon North got together for a groundbreaking ceremony on the Friday morning to mark the start of construction of the 85-room hotel. You can watch a video of the ceremony above.
“I think its appropriate we’re out on a rainy and drizzly day because it’s in complete contrast to the future of this development and the future of the community, which is bright and sunny, and in the winter time, lots of snow and lots of skiing,” said Mayor Mark McKee. “I’m looking forward to the project coming to fruition.”
The hotel is being developed just off the Trans-Canada Highway by Canwest Hotels, a company owned by several Golden, B.C., hoteliers and restauranteurs. It is being built by Horizon North, a company that specializes in modular work camps construction.
“We’re extremely excited to get into the ground here. The community both Mark and Dean (Strachan, the city’s manager of development services) have been wonderful for us to work with,” said Paul Deutsch, the president of Canwest Hotels. “We’ll continue to hopefully have that relationship with the community and everybody working forward hand-in-hand.”
The foundation and site work for the hotel is expected to start this month, but building itself will be built in pieces in a factory in Kamloops.
“The reason for doing it is you can manufacture in a controlled environment,” said Rod Graham, the President & CEO of Horizon North. “You’re not weather dependent. From a cost-certainty perspective, we can guarantee the cost.”
Horizon North plans on manufacturing the hotel in 64 blocks — 16 for each floor – and will begin assembling them in April. The hotel is expected to open next June.
Horizon North has built work camps and housing developments, but this is the first hotel it will build. Graham said the big difference will be the attention to detail on the outside of the building.
“You can’t tell the difference between a hotel in downtown Vancouver – short a Fairmount – and our camps, but the outside looks like a trailer,” he said. “That’s where the attention to detail on the outside is important as we move forward.
“It’s not brand new. It’s not like we invented fire. This concept has been around for quite some time.”
Only the pool will be built in a traditional fashion.
Deutsch gave special thanks to Steve Platt, the previous owner of the property, who pushed for a hotel development for years before backing out because of issues with the city.
“He probably put in the first 11 rounds of this fight for me,” said Deutsch. “I walked in and had a really easy, paved path. He’s been a mentor to me from abroad and I appreciate what he’s done for me and getting me to this point.”