Item

Beacon
Feb 5/1903
Improving the Algonquin
The CPR will spend $15,000 on it This Year
Other improvements in contemplation
The annual meeting of the Algonquin Hotel Co., Ltd. was held in Saint John on Saturday lat, when directors were chosen as follows: James Osborne, H. H. McLean, C. B. Foster, J. N. Sutherland, F. B. Edgecombe, James Murchie, F. H. Grimmer. Mr. Osborne was elected president of the new company; Mr. Grimmer, vice-president, and Mr. Mclean, secretary.
            The hotel was leased to Messrs. Harvey and Wood, of Boston, for the year, and it was decided to expend s sum of money in making repairs and improving the property. Eighteen bathrooms will be added all the rooms will be papers, the corridor (or palm room, as it will be henceforth called) will be extended back towards the street in the rear, and further means of exit provided in case of fire. The improvements will cost in the neighborhood of $15,000. The will be carried out under he supervision of Mr. J. P. O’Leary, who is engaging workmen for the purpose. Mr. Joseph Craig, of Saint John, will attend to the paper hanging.

Beacon
April 2/1903
The Algonquin Hotel—Supt. O’Leary is pushing the repairs on the Algonquin hotel. About forty rooms now remain to be papered and painted. The exterior of the hotel will also be painted; the prevailing color will be a light red. The contract for the plumbing work has been awarded to W. H. Donovan, of St. Stephen. The well sunk by Thomas Kent has reached a depth of 240 feet. There is good flow of water, but its sufficiency is yet to be determined.

Beacon
April 16/1903
The New Algonquin
A Glance at the Improvements Being Made
The renewed Algonquin, when it emerges from the hands of the artisans who are engaged upon it, will, indeed, be a thing of beauty and a joy to those who will be fortunate enough to be its guests. Though not enlarged to any great extent, the interior alterations have greatly added to its comfort and utility, while the safety of the guests has been ensured by the erection of several hundred feet of fire escapes, the addition of ladders and the like.
            On the ground floor, the first change noted is the erection of the palm room, 34 x 20 feet, on the northern end of the great hall-way. The eastern and northern outlooks in this room will be filled in with glass. When it is completed, and adorned with beautiful palms and other plants it will be an enchanting spot--an ideal lovers' retreat.
            The baggage-room on this floor has been extended twelve feet, with an opening to the elevator and also to the hall-way.
            The lavatory is now 12 x 18 feet in size, and will be supplied with the necessary conveniences in the most approved form. The billiard room will be reached by a hall-way alongside the lavatory.
            A newspaper or sales-stand, opening into the main hall, near the entrance to the ladies' parlor, is one of the new features of the hotel. This apartment is 9 x 15 feet.
            The nurses' dining hall on this floor has been enlarged, twelve feet more room having been added to it.
            The main dining room, the ladies' parlor and the hall will be painted. The general parlor on the western end of the hall-way is to be papered and painted and the ceiling kalsomined.
            The alterations on the second, third and fourth floors are largely in the way of new bath-rooms and the placing of rooms en suite. On the second floor, five new bath-rooms have been put in, making seven in all on this floor. A stairway has also been added in the western end of the corridor. Six new baths have been placed on the third floor. The fire doors have been placed on the stair landing between the second and third floors.
            Four bath rooms have been placed on the fourth floor. This floor was without such conveniences before. Though sixteen bath-rooms have been added, space has been so economized that only two guest rooms have been lost.
            A new boiler and boiler-house, and new smoke-stack are among the improvements. A well of 240 feet deep has also been sunk in the rear of the hotel. The tests have so far been satisfactory, so that an abundance of good water is assured.
            The hotel improvements have been carried out under the personal supervision of Mr. J. P. O'Leary, superintendent of hotels for the C. P. R. He has been ably seconded by his foreman Mr. Henry Pratt, of Saint John. The contract for the plumbing is being executed by W. H. Donovan, of St. Stephen. Mr. Stoop, of SA, is doing the interior painting and papering in a satisfactory manner. The exterior colors are now being chosen.

Laying out the Golf Links
Mr. George Cumming, of the Toronto Golf Club, was in St. Andrews on Wednesday and Thursday of last week, laying out an eighteen hole golf course for the Algonquin golf club. He is delighted with the St. Andrews links.

Beacon
April 30/1903
A lot of land for a pumping station for the Algonquin hotel was purchased by Mr. Osburn while in St. Andrews last week. The old pumping station at Katy's Cove occupies a portion of this lot.

In addition to other improvements contemplated in connection with the Algonquin hotel will be the erection of a large building in the rear which will serve as a dormitory for the help and a station for the gasoline and electric plant of the hotel.

Beacon
May 7/1903
The summer sojourners At St. Andrews in 1903 will find some changes for the better here. They will find amore beautiful Algonquin, a more extensive golf links, a brighter and more hopeful town. Though the CPR only took hold of St. Andrews as a summer resort a few weeks ago they have already done much towards improving it and extending its fame, and it is their intention to do more.

Beacon
May 14/1903
The acquirement of the Algonquin hotel by the CPR Company forges another link in the chain which binds this great corporation to St. Andrews. With such a connection, [acquisition of A by CPR] the future of SA--as a summer resort at least--is assured.

Beacon
July 2/1903
The New Algonquin
First Opening Under the Auspices of the CPR
The Algonquin hotel, brighter and more beautiful than ever, has opened its door for another season. From basement to roof the house has been thoroughly renovated and improved. Painters, mason and carpenters, with brush and hammer and trowel, have done their part in the general scheme of improvement. The plumber, too, in the addition of sixteen bath rooms has played no unimportant part. It needed but the deft fingers of woman to put the finishing touches—the touch artistic—to the whole scheme. This fell to the lot of the energetic housekeeper, Mrs. Banks, and her assistants, and they have left nothing undone in their departments. The rooms are neat and clean—clean wall, new line, new carpets and matting—everything bright and fresh. The parlors are artistically arranged. The grand dining rooms, elegant before, has been vastly improved by the addition of lace curtains to all the windows. The walls and ceiling have also passed through the hands of the painter. Snowy line, new silver and new dishes cover the tables, making everything attractive to the eye. In the culinary department changes of the better have also been made. The new palm room and news room are interesting features of the renewed hotel. So also is the new acetylene gas system by the hotel is lighted.
            Mr. Henry S. Houston, who was house manager of the Piney Woods hotel, Thomasville, Georgia, last winter, is the new resident manager. He is evidently a capable hotel man and has favorably impressed all who have met him. He will have as chief clerk Mr. Alexander Lightfoot, also from the Piney Woods. Many of the old staff will be found at their accustomed posts,--Mrs. Banks, the house-keeper; the chef, Mr. Colby; engineer Lewis; Mr. Halpin, who presides over the barber shop and billiard room; Hubert Stinson, the hustling chief of the bell staff, and others.
            Many of the old guests appear on the managers book this season— Prof. Smith, and family, Mr. Chas. Allen and niece, Mr. H. F. Windram and Miss Windram, Mrs. Benson and daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Roger N. Allen, Mrs. C. R. Hosmer and daughter, Mrs. Heney, Miss McKenzie, Dr. Sweetland, Miss Sparks, Judge Street and family, Mr. and Mrs. C. J. Bonaparte, Mrs. J. H. Thompson and daughter and many others.