‘Like a film set’: Historic Sask. hotel transforming into 1920s-themed site

Kent Karemaker is working to resurrect the Grand Hotel Shaunavon. Here's why he's passionate about the 1929 hotel and what his plans are for it.

Progress is being made on the revitalization of a historic Saskatchewan hotel.

Shaunavon’s Grand Hotel has been sitting dormant for at least 45 years, before it was recently purchased by Ken Karemaker.

Originally from B.C., Karemaker took on the refurbishment as a personal passion project – with the ultimate aim of transforming it into a 1920s-themed tourist hotel and museum.

“This was kind of always a dream of mine – to do restoration,” Karemaker told Your Morning Saskatchewan on Monday.

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“When I hit 40, I kind of got serious about it and thought, ‘Well if you’re not going to do it now, you’re probably never going to do it.’ I packed my bags and headed from B.C. to Saskatchewan.”

Karemaker said work on the structure is about 30 per cent complete, with more than 50 per cent of the building’s stabilization done.

Karemaker is doing the work himself except for the building’s roof, which he hired a contractor to work on.

The building has a somewhat notorious history – as it was the site of a fire, a dynamite explosion and three murders over the years.

All of its original brass fixtures, porcelain wall sinks, and laundry equipment are still in the building and have been refurbished.

“I come from film, I used to be an actor, I worked on sets a lot – and so I kind of look at this as almost looking like a film set when it’s done in terms of being authentic down to the finest detail of 1929,” Karemaker said.

“I think that’s probably one of its most amazing features – the fact that it hasn’t been renovated to death like so many other hotels of its age.”

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The hotel’s 1920s motif is meant to give people a glimpse into what life was like when the hotel first opened, which means none of the rooms will have TVs – though they’ll still have WiFi.

Karemaker plans for the hotel to feature a high tea service and continental breakfast. Its museum on the main floor will document not only the restoration process but the building’s history itself as well as the town’s history.

He added that the people of Shaunavon have received the idea very positively.

“You never know when you move into a new town, certainly by yourself, and nobody knows you. You kind of have to build a reputation and so it’s a bit of an uphill struggle,” he said.

“The community by and large has been super supportive and very interested in what I’m doing. There’s a lot of community pride here and so I think a lot of people are happy to see somebody take on a building that is a registered heritage building in their community and do some work to it and not hide the history but really embrace the history.”

A GoFundMe up to help with the refurbishment.

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