With the arrival of several wagon loads or railway cars of lumber, construction began on the large two- or three-storey hotels in towns across the southern half of Saskatchewan. Many owners hired contractors to do the building. A large crew of carpenters raised the structures on full basements.
Most of these early hotels were wood frame buildings of balloon (rather than platform) construction. This meant that the full height of the hotel walls were built with long, continuous studs that ran from bottom to top; ground floor to eaves, with the intermediate floor structures nailed to them. There was one big disadvantage to balloon construction: Fire could spread easily from floor to floor so buildings burned rapidly.
 |
| King George Hotel, Avonlea, 1907 |
 |
| King George Hotel in Avonlea, c. 1910. Destroyed by fire in 1916. Image source |
 |
| Bengough Hotel built in 1911-12. Lew Sandeen was the main carpenter. From Echoes of the Past, 1906-1974 |
 |
| Empress Hotel at Shaunavon built for proprietors Peter Hoban and John Keefe for $30,000 in 1913. Destroyed by fire in 1914. Image source |
 |
| Gillstrom Builders of Swift Current, builders of the Empress Hotel at Shaunavon (above). Image source |
