Back in Time
Have you ever wondered what hotel life might have been like here in the west at the turn of the century? The Wainwright, one of dozens of exhibits at the Heritage Park Village, will take you on a journey back in time. Constructed by the park in 1967 with the help of a $500,000 grant from the Alberta government and a $10,000 donation from Sicks' Lethbridge Brewery, the Wainwright is a replica of the original hotel established by Martin Luther Forster in Denwood, AB, in 1907.

A Rich History
Forster, an experienced hotelkeeper, moved his wife Stella and two children from their home in Neustadt, Ont., and built a two-story, 30-room hotel in anticipation of a business boom that was to be created by the nearby construction of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. When the railway company decided to locate at a divisional point known as Wainwright (named after William Wainwright, the company's vice-president) three miles west of Denwood, the citizens simply gathered their belongings and moved their homes and businesses to Wainwright. It took Forster three months to move the hotel which he reopened in 1908 and rechristened the "Wainwright Hotel."

Cheap Rooms
A room, usually furnished with an iron bedstead, wardrobe, a washstand and a chamber pot cost $1 a night. At this price the hotel owners might not make a profit, but they could usually count on the ever-popular hotel bar to keep it in business. Today's hotel, built from photographs and personal recollections of the Forster family, is opened to the public for viewing, dining and private functions. The glass enclosed bedrooms allow visitors to see what the decor was like for residents at the time and includes many types of mementoes from the early 1900s.