Leader-Post: Century-old Saskatchewan hotel burns to the ground



The King George Hotel and Bar in Stenen, Sask., located
80 kilometres north of Yorkton, was destroyed by fire on
Oct. 26, 2011.

Photograph by: Trudy Scebenski, Handout



Black smoke billowed from the King George Hotel and Bar in Stenen as many residents watched it succumb to flames Wednesday morning.Read more

 

 

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"It was our last functioning business to burn down," said Adeline Watson, a resident of Stenen who was born and raised in the community. "It was a very popular bar and people would come from as far as Yorkton...it's going to be missed big time."

The King George Hotel and Bar in Stenen, Sask., located
80 kilometres north of Yorkton, was destroyed by fire on
Oct. 26, 2011.

Photograph by: Trudy Scebenski, Handout

She said even her daughter from Calgary said the bar was part of the atmosphere of the town.

 

"It's just heartbreaking because I grew up here. It was a bar my dad went in," said Watson. "I never managed to go into it until I came back from Alberta because I was underage.

 

"When I came back, the first year and a half when I came back from Alberta, I worked there part-time. It was someplace we went for wings quite often because it was the best and cheapest (wings) you were going to find around within a 100 mile radius."

 

Watson herself couldn't believe how fast the building burned to the ground because in a matter of three hours, it was gone.

 

The King George Hotel and Bar in Stenen, Sask., located
80 kilometres north of Yorkton, was destroyed by fire on
Oct. 26, 2011.

Photograph by: Trudy Scebenski, Handout

"It went so fast, I think, because of the age of the building number one and the insulations they had those shadings," she said. "That might've as well been a fuel because those shadings reflected an ignitor. It just went."

 

Watson lives right across from where the hotel stood in an alley and she said the whole village was lucky there was no wind that day or other houses likely would've caught fire.

 

"We thank God for that," said Watson. "I had to move my boat and motor home because I had that right against the frence and hot ambers were falling on top."

 

The King George Hotel and Bar in Stenen, Sask., located
80 kilometres north of Yorkton, was destroyed by fire on
Oct. 26, 2011.

Photograph by: Trudy Scebenski, Handout

"After a few hours, (I) came back to the house and my house smelled," said Watson. "I'm not sure if I'll be able to get rid of it or not."