Royal plans

County unanimously welcomes redesign for Picton hotel

When councillors met with Greg Sorbara, the new owner of the shuttered Royal Hotel in Picton, to approve in principle his plan to revamp and revitalize the old building, some began to reminisce about its storied past.

“If the Royal Hotel could talk, could actually tell stories, they’d be pretty colourful and pretty spicy. And they might have changed the more staid mythology of our loyalist heritage here,” said councillor Bill Roberts.

In its heyday, the Royal was a buzz of activity, with a history of young debauchery and rooms sometimes rented by the hour.

Councillor David Harrison recalled heading to the upstairs rooms at the Royal as a kid to wake up those who may have only just gone to bed after a night at the pub in order to recruit tomato pickers for one of the County’s canning factories.

In response, the slightly more senior councillor Roy Pennell pointed out that some of the older people in the room are quite happy the Royal’s walls can’t talk.

Sorbara, who is a former finance minister for Ontario, purchased the Royal two years ago. Since then he has been working to come up with the best possible redesign for the hotel. Sorbara has worked with the County’s heritage advisory committee (PEHAC) and ERA, the architect firm which helped the County develop its case for designating Picton’s main street as a heritage area.

Unlike recent projects in the County which have received a high level of criticism, Sorbara seems to value the history and heritage of the property. Before the brick church was demolished in Picton in 2010, he had put an offer to buy and restore it, but that offer was rejected.

At the Royal, he intends to maintain history.

“Because of the story that I heard about rousing the workers who were a little bit stewed before they could go pick tomatoes, I am hoping, over the course of the next year, to develop a half hour or a one hour history of the Royal and it’s return,” Sorbara told council.

Working with local historian and filmmaker Peter Lockyer, Sorbara wants to interview those who recall the Royal’s history, incorporated with footage of the hotel in its current state and the work that will be done to revitalize it.

The plan will involve a near complete demolition, with the façade at the front and sides of the building protected by steel beams while the work is in progress. The back of the building will be completely modernized, with glass, brick and steel structures over a patio.

The second and third floor facades will remain the same on the front and sides of the building, but the main floor façade will be a more modern glass and steel. This is one design detail PEHAC disagreed with. Councillor Treat Hull, who put forward a motion to approve the project, said the new design was beautiful, and the first floor design was acceptable.

“The first floor is not heritage designated, the second and third floors are. The ground level has to embody good design and craftsmanship according to our heritage conservation district,” Hull said. “A minor critique of the windows and doors is an exercise in personal taste, and is not appropriate to include in a recommendation for adoption in council.”

Many around the council table agreed with Hull on this point.

After a 15 minute discussion, it was clear there was strong support for Sorbara’s plan, and vote to approve it was unanimous. On the evening of Tuesday, August 4 there will be a council meeting to ratify the approval, and although it is short notice, mayor Robert Quaiff would encourage the public to attend so that the process remains transparent.

Sorbara says that once the project is approved and the steel beams are mounted to protect the façade, he expects the doors to open on the new Royal hotel in two years.