Banff Springs

How the Stage was Set HISTORY IN BRIEF 1886: Opening year of the hotel. 1928: The hotel reopened after a fire devastated the original wooden construction.
1995: Opening of Willow Stream spa. HISTORY IN DETAIL 1886: William Van Horne, General Manager of Canadian Pacific Railways, commissioned Bruce Price of New York, one of the foremost architects of the day, to draw up plans for a hotel to be built above the confluence of the Bow and the Spray Rivers overlooking the beautiful Bow Valley. Van Horne recognised the tourist potential of the hot springs near the station of Banff. His vision was fueled by the philosophy 'If we can't export the scenery, we will import the tourists' and thus began the campaign to design a luxury hotel amidst the beautiful mountain scenery of the Canadian Rockies. To travel there, the visitors would naturally arrive via the Canadian Pacific Railway, and Van Horne proposed the establishment of a series of luxury hotels along the railway line through the Rocky and Selkirk Mountains. The hotel was designed by architect Bruce Price. 1887: Construction began on the hotel. 1888, June 1: Opening date of the hotel. 1926: The hotel had to be rebuilt after a terrible fire. 1928: Reopening of the hotel. 1969: Since then the hotel has been open year round. 1989: A new golf clubhouse and nine additional holes were added to the Banff Springs Golf Course, rolling out 27 holes of spectacular mountain golf. 1991: A $23 million state-of-the-art conference centre opened , increasing the total meeting space to 76,000 sq ft. 1992: The Fairmont Banff Springs was declared a historical site by the Sites and Monuments Board of Canada. 1995: Opening of Willow Stream, its fabulous European-style spa. 1999: Canadian Pacific spun-off Canadian Pacific Hotels, along with all its properties. The new company was renamed Fairmont Hotels & Resorts in an effort to reflect its growing global presence and ambitions