 |
| Rouleau hotel in 2007. Image source |
Built in 1905 as the Arlington Hotel, the 42-room hotel in Rouleau served as a recruiting office during the First World War, and as an emergency hospital during the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918. Due to Prohibition, implemented in July 1915, it was closed for a couple of years. When A.D. Hierlihy bought the hotel in 1920, it was quite run down. After a great deal of cleaning, painting and redecorating, the Hierlihy family moved into the hotel and it was opened for business once again.
Tony and Esther Van Oostdam purchased the hotel in 1932, advertising the “Dining Room known for Best of Food and Elegant Service.” Rooms were rented by the day, week or month. The hotel boasted a licensed beverage room after 1935, which served as a meeting place for the men of Rouleau. A chimney fire on the second floor the hotel in July of 1948, when it was owned by Stanley Jarosinski, forced the evacuation of 40 residents. This fire also necessitated more renovations.
 |
| Arlington Hotel, Rouleau, c. 1915. Image source |
 |
| In 1994, the Rouleau Hotel was operated by Reid Junek and Joanne Desfosses. From The Buckle of the Grain Belt; Rouleau and District History, 1894-1994 |
 |
| Rouleau, c. 1950. From The Buckle of the Grain Belt; Rouleau and District History, 1894-1994 |
In the summer of 2003, filming began in Rouleau for the CTV sitcom, Corner Gas. The town of 450 was renamed Dog River, and the Rouleau Hotel became the Dog River Hotel. The exterior was refurbished for filming, and dressing rooms were installed on the upper floors. Corner Gas wrapped up filming the sixth and final episode in September of 2008. The series finale aired on CTV on April 13, 2009.
 |
| The bar at the Dog River Hotel was open for business in April 2007. Image source |
© Joan Champ 2011
