Hamilton history comes alive

A piece of Hamilton’s history is coming alive tonight. The Royal Connaught was host to prime ministers and pop stars in its heyday. And it’s memories from those days that are bringing it back to life.

Developers who are turning the hotel into condos asked people to send in their favourite memories of the hotel. And tonight, the winners are being celebrated with a dinner inside the Connaught.

For the 1st time in 10 years, people will be sitting down to dinner here. The developers were inundated with responses to their contest ‘Memories of Royal Connaught’.

This building has been here for almost 100 years. There are plenty of memories between these walls. People like Liberace, Al Capone and Diefenbaker stayed here.

The lobby has been completely redone now. But it looked a lot different then. And a lot different when one of the winners worked here.

93-year old Margaret Sardo worked here from 1943 to 1949. And in 1945, she was married here.

Margaret Sardo, winning memory: “There was 50 people. We had dining room A which was up on the balcony. I knew the Maitre d’ so he only charged us a dollar per person. We had a piano player for $10. So that was the expense of our wedding.

When I first started working here, when they were arranging my pay, they said I could have an extra 25 cents if I did not have lunch in the restaurant. I took the 25 cents because I figured I could walk home, have a chance to get myself nice and fit, which I did.”

The winners and their families will be sitting down to dinner in just a few minutes.

The developers say that this condo project is 70% sold out. And construction is scheduled to begin in about a month.