Paul Wilson: Harry Frost died young – his hotel lives on

Aired On:   CBC Hamilton

29/01/2013 – At the condo, Harry II keeps a large silver tray. It was presented to his grandfather on opening day at the Connaught. He remembers lending it to the hotel for a year, to be placed in a display case for the 75th anniversary.

Harry recalls going to Hamilton and meeting somebody in the lobby of the Connaught not long before it closed. It was a disappointing sight. He hasn’t been back to Hamilton since. But he is excited by the plans to make the Connaught live and shine again. The project is supposed to be complete in 2015. What if someone asked Harry II to cut the ribbon? “I would do that,” he says. “And I would probably ask if I could have young Harry Frost III help me with the job.”

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The Rebirth of the Royal Connaught

Published In:  Keeping It Real-Estate :: The official Newinhomes.com news blog

23/01/2013 – One of our favourite things here at the Toronto Star’s NewInHomes.com is witnessing the re-birth and re-purposing of historic buildings in the Greater Toronto Area. Allowing the city’s history to thrive for further generations is how you build a world-class city.
A great example of this is the plan for The Royal Connaught Hotel in Hamilton. The century-old building has been empty for the past few years, awaiting word on its future. Well, thanks to our friends at Valery Homes and The Spallacci Group, the Royal Connaught Hotel is in for quite the change!

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Connaught condo plan

Aired On:  CHCH

22/01/2013 – If the owners of Hamilton’s historic Royal Connaught Hotel have their way, the downtown landmark will be getting a makeover.
Ted Valeri and Rudi Spallacci have released their plan to turn the former hotel into a residential building. The plan is to reclaim an entire city block at Gore Park for the “Residences at Royal Connaught.” They are calling the plan a “new era for Hamilton.” It would see 700 condo units brought to the downtown area as well as 13,000 square feet of retail space.

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Connaught owners aim for condos by 2015

Published In:  The Hamilton Spectator

22/01/2013 The Royal Connaught will be ready to reinhabit as early as 2015, according to the hotel’s owners. Ted Valeri and Rudi Spallacci saythe first part of their proposed 700-unit condominium development is expected to be built and ready for occupants within the next three years.
The initial phase of the project is expected to include 135 units constructed behind the original façade of the two existing Connaught buildings. The one- and two-bedroom suites will start “in the high $100,000s” and range in size from 530 to 1,190 square feet.

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Fond memories of the Connaught, high hopes for its future

Published In:  The Hamilton Spectator

20/01/2013 – Doreen Brunt on the west Mountain has fond memories of the Connaught. She worked there as a young woman in the ’40s and ’50s for the American Can Company, which occupied the upper floors of the hotel. She and friends spent lunch breaks on the “circus roof,” which for years was one of the downtown’s top live music venues. She once met Tony Bennett in the Connaught dining room.

“It was a really booming place. It was the place to go,” she said. “They had the most amazing New Year’s Eve parties — everybody wore long dresses, it was very elegant.”

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