Memories from the Staff Hotels Deep River, 1945-1985
NEW
- How to Order the Book, "Memories From the Staff
Hotels"
Background
As former residents of the AECL Staff Hotels, our mission is to preserve the information still available about the hotels, the people who lived there and what they did, and to make it available to others. This will be done by gathering: 1) details about the buildings, staff and services, 2) stories and photographs of life in and around the hotels, 3) wedding pictures for hotel romances, and 4) a register of all former residents that we can think of.
Buildings
Twelve dormitories were built on Forest Street in 1945, initially to house the construction workers that built the town, and another 12 where Hill Park is now. Each had about 30 beds. After the construction boom was over the Hill Park buildings were all demolished (by 1953), except for Hill House, which still stands. Until 1961, when the last dorm on Forest Street was demolished, they housed AECL staff, support staff and summer students.
Construction of the Staff Hotel began mid-1945. It had 211 rooms, 146 of them in the women’s wing. Central services, including meals, were provided for all hotel buildings from here until 1960, when Forest Hall, with its improved facilities, became the center of activity. Between 1960 and 1985 parts of the Staff Hotel were severed and demolished. The last remaining section, Champlain House Apartments, was sold to a private owner in 1985. Two of the current occupants have lived in various staff hotels for more than fifty years!
The Annex, with 63 rooms and bathrooms shared between two rooms, was built in 1951 to serve a continuing demand for single accommodation.
Forest Hall, with 210 rooms and more modern facilities, was built in 1958-59 to accommodate the increasing demand of the expanding nuclear power program. Many Ontario Hydro trainees were housed here. With a cafeteria, restaurant and bar as central services and lounges for residents on all floors, Forest Hall was a center of activity for the town. It was sold to a private investor in the late 1980s when AECL decided that it would no longer provide living accommodation.
Gathering
A gathering is being planned for the Saturday afternoon (August
2) of the Summerfest weekend, 2008. At the Deep River Yacht &
Tennis Club from 3:00 to 5:00, we will 'meet and greet', look at photographs (that you are being asked to provide!) and generally connect with those we may not have seen for years. It is intended that the book will be launched at this gathering. Now is the time to make your reservation for accommodation.
Residents Registry
During the last few months we have assembled a Residents' Register, with more than
1500 names. All this from the memories of about 40 people! There are no AECL or Staff House Club records that we can find, so everything is being retrieved from our aging memories. Please help by checking that your name is correctly included, or if it is not there, add it and others you can remember. Follow the links and insert new information into the form provided. Pat Meadowcroft is managing the register; contact PO Box 1222, Deep River ON, K0J 1P0, telephone 613-584-3619,
rosspat@sympatico.ca.
Stories
We all have memories of interesting happenings. This will be the most colourful section of the book that we intend to print. We need many more stories (we have 30 now and want 200) so please talk to your friends to generate ideas and write them down! This is a really important thing we can do. Stories will provide a flavour for the way we lived that cannot come from lists and photographs. Several of the stories we have already are included as samples. Let your minds wander. Include a relevant photograph. Guidelines for authors are included. Please send stories to June MacDonald, PO Box 1569, Deep River, ON K0J 1P0, telephone 613-584-4751, gjmacdon@magma.ca
Weddings
Because so many of us found mates in the Staff Hotels, we've decided to include a section that is simply a collection of wedding pictures, where both partners lived in the hotels. Please provide your photograph, with the names of both people and the date and place of the wedding. Check the few photographs that are included here and send yours to Al Okazaki aokazaki@magma.ca
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| Al Bancroft, Joan Jordan 1957, Feb 23 |
John Mislan, Teresa Norlock 1968 |
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| Bill Graham, Helen McCallum 1959, May 16 |
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Photographs
We plan to include as many photographs as we reasonably can, sprinkled throughout the text. Please send us any you think will be of interest to others. Be sure to label them with names, date and place. Photos will be printed in black and white. Anything that shows who we were, what we did and how we lived is welcome. Please send your contributions to Al Okazaki, PO Box 829, Deep River, ON, K0J 1P0, telephone 613-584-2715, aokazaki@magma.ca
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| Mary King's Nash Rambler, Barkas as hood ornament, 1956 |
Blanche Gililand, 1956 |
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| Bonga-Bonga, diety for June Ball 1956 |
Skate-sailing, Mary Ellen Sharpe and John Hueton 1956 |
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| Beauprie's Gondoliers:
Back l to r, Ted Litherland, Bob Hollies, Jim Kennedy, ?
Font l to r, Don Beauprie, Jake Smith, Hector Viancourt?, Jack Robertson 1958
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Lucy MacDonald in Crawley-McCracken uniform 1953 |
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Book
Download
these instructions and a copy of the order form in PDF Format.
The Staff Hotel Memories Group completed the
gathering-of-information phase of the project on December 31, 2007.
During the past 10 months we collected 1200 photographs, 170 stories
and 2000 names of former residents for the Register. We are no
longer accepting new material for the book.
We have begun assembling the book, Memories from the Staff
Hotels, Deep River, 1945-1985, which we estimate will be
about 275 pages and include the following:
- Title and Foreword, Acknowledgements
- Chapter 1, Buildings, Staff and Services
- Chapter 2, Aerial Photos and Maps
- Chapter 3, Photo Collages, People and Places
- Chapter 4, Stories
- Chapter 5, Wedding Gallery, Hotel Romances
- Chapter 6, Residents' Register
- Afterword
The book will be printed in black and white, with colour covers
and spiral-ring binding, by Digital Copy Xpress in Deep River. It
will be distributed by Debi Adams, of LoonsNest Books and Gifts in
Deep River and sold at cost of $35 per copy, plus shipping and
handling, if requested.
The deadline for placing orders is May 1, 2008. We plan
only to print copies for those who place orders and pay in advance.
As a volunteer organization we cannot accept the financial risk of
printing copies on speculation.
To order, please contact Debi Adams, Proprietor, LoonsNest Books
and Gifts by mail at P.O. Box 1469, Deep River, ON, K0J 1P0, by
email at loonsnestbooks@hotmail.com, by telephone at 613-584-9532 or
by fax at 613-584-9531. Payment can be made by personal cheque
payable to The LoonsNest, by Mastercard or Visa, or by cash or debit
in the store. Copies of the book should be available in the store
starting May 17th and can be picked-up there, or at the Summerfest
reception for former residents on August 2, 2008. As noted above,
the cost of shipping will incur an additional charge.
Please help us to reach any former resident who you think may be
interested in purchasing this book. Send a copy of the information
sheet to your friends and acquaintances, or contact them by phone or
email. For former residents, this is really a once-in-a lifetime
opportunity for you!