From military service to room service: London’s Delta Armouries Hotel marks 120 years of history

The Delta Armouries Hotel is set to celebrate its 120th anniversary this week. CTV London’s Sean Irvine with the story.

The 120-year history of the cornerstone building housing the London Delta Armouries Hotel is being celebrated over the next week.

The 1^st Hussars Regiment has activities planned leading up to Remembrance Day, both in and outside of the hotel.

For its first 73 years, the armouries served as a military hub.

“Well, this was not only the centre of military activity, but it was also the centre of social activity,” said the past-president of the 1^st Hussars Association, Lt. Col. Joe Murray.

The first move to mark the history of the building occurs Tuesday evening, when the regimental camp flag will be raised for the first time since 1978.

“We are reclaiming the Dundas Street Armoury, back to the 1^st Hussars, and to all the other regiments,” said association president Mike Procur, a retired sergeant.

With the hotel’s cooperation, the week will also include a fundraising brunch and two days of indoor guided tours to areas that still relate to the original structure.

“I want to show them where history was made and where the people trained, and where they enjoyed themselves,” shared Murray, who will serve as a tour guide.

To visualize the anniversary on a grand scale, period vehicles will be parked in front of the armouries on Remembrance Day.

Murray said the move is designed to simulate the hustle and bustle of the armoury at its height of operation.

“This building had ranges, and it had classrooms. It had a band room. It had a mess [hall],” he explained.

And now, a century on, and one major transformation later, Procur believes it has a lasting legacy.

“Just like the Holy Roller tank is a landmark for the unit and the city, the Delta Armouries is, itself, a vital landmark,” he explained.

“I can’t say enough about how the people who built this hotel maintain the character of it,” said Murray. “It is a historical document, because the people came through here, made history. And not just Canadian history, but world history.”