Owners, General Managers & Historic Events Through The Years

1902   

The King Edward Hotel Owner: The Toronto Hotel Company

The King Edward Hotel General Manager: Robert G. Clarke    

       

George Gooderham was hotel Chairman and

T.G. (Thomas Gibbs) Blackstock was hotel President (Gooderham’s son-in-law)

HISTORIC EVENT: King Edward VII develops appendicitis, delaying his coronation.

                                              

1903  

The King Edward Hotel Owner: William C. Bailey (a seasoned hotelier, brought in from Chicago)

       Hotel opened 11 May 1903 at a cost of $6,000,000.00   

HISTORIC EVENT: Due to drought the US side of Niagara Falls runs short of water

1922  

The King Edward Hotel Owner: United Hotels Company of America

Tower added at a cost of $200,000

HISTORIC EVENT: First microfilm device introduced

1926  

The King Edward Hotel General Manager: P. Kirby Hunt

HISTORIC EVENT: Henry Ford announces 8 hour, 5-day work week

1933  

Metropolitan Life foreclosed on mortgage of The King Edward Hotel of $2,150.00

HISTORIC EVENT: Albert Einstein arrives in US, a refugee from Nazi Germany

1938  

The King Edward Hotel General Manager: H. “Doc” McCarthy

HISTORIC EVENT: Toronto Maple Leafs score 8 goals in 5 minutes

1941

The King Edward Hotel Owner: C.A. Ripley

The King Edward Hotel is sold by Metropolitan Life for $2,500,000

HISTORIC EVENT: Duke Ellington first records “Take the A Train”

(Big Band era music like this was being performed during this time in The Crystal Ballroom – at the top of The King Edward Hotel – a very popular Toronto location)

 

1943

The King Edward Hotel Owner: Cardy Hotels

The King Edward Hotel General Manager: H. Alexander MacLennan

Vernon G. Cardy was hotel President

1947

The King Edward Hotel General Manager: Harry A. Peters Jr.

HISTORIC EVENT: Pan Am Airways chartered as 1st worldwide passenger airline

1949  

The King Edward Hotel Owner: C.A. Ripley (again)

The King Edward Hotel General Manager: Richard H. Nash

HISTORIC EVENT: United Nations’ permanent NYC headquarters is dedicated

1950  

The King Edward Hotel Owner: Sheraton Corporation

HISTORIC EVENT: 1st kidney transplant

1953

The King Edward Hotel General Manager: Fred Lightfoot

HISTORIC EVENT: Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in Westminster Abbey

1955

The King Edward Hotel General Manager: Gars Havers

HISTORIC EVENT: Civil Rights Activist Rosa Parks arrested for refusing to move to the back of the bus

1958

The King Edward Hotel General Manager: A. Gordon Cardy

HISTORIC EVENT: The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation links television broadcasting across Canada via microwave

1967

The King Edward Hotel General Manager: Glenn Brewer

HISTORIC EVENT: Canada celebrates the 100th anniversary of the British North America Act of 1867 making it an independent country

(Logo of Canada’s centennial celebrations in 1967)

1969

The King Edward Hotel General Manager: Joseph Downey

HISTORIC EVENT: Apollo 10 transmit 1st color pictures of Earth from space

1972

The King Edward Hotel Owner: Corporate Properties

The King Edward Hotel General Manager: Bill Herchmer

HISTORIC EVENT: Canada defeats the USSR in the eigth and final game of the ice hockey Summit Series

1976

The King Edward Hotel Owner: Kincardine Investments Ltd

The King Edward Hotel General Manager: William C. Bailey

Jack Fisher was hotel President

HISTORIC EVENT: CN Tower in Toronto, tallest free-standing structure at the time (555 m) opens

1977

The King Edward Hotel General Manager: Shalom Evan

HISTORIC EVENT: Apple II, the 1st personal computer, goes on sale

1978

The Sheraton Corporation took back the first mortgage of The King Edward Hotel

HISTORIC EVENT: Bee Gees’ “Saturday Night Fever” album goes #1 

1979

The King Edward Hotel Owner: Trans Nation Inc.

The King Edward Hotel General Manager: Gordon Josie

Emilio Valenti is hotel President

The hotel is closed on Sept 2, 1979 for renovations

HISTORIC EVENT:  Margaret Thatcher becomes the first woman prime minister of Great Britain

(Margaret Thatcher also visited The King Edward Hotel)

1980

Even though the hotel is closed for renovations, The King Edward Hotel gets a new General Manager: Kermin Berliker

HISTORIC EVENT: In a referendum, 59.5% of Quebec voters reject separatism from Canada

1981

The King Edward Hotel General Manager: J. Peter Rickard

The King Edward Hotel reopened on May 7, 1981 under the management of Trusthouse Forte

HISTORIC EVENT: Britain’s Prince Charles announces engagement to Lady Diana Spencer

1982

The King Edward Hotel General Manager: Ibrahim Fahmy

HISTORIC EVENT: Queen Elizabeth proclaims Canada’s new constitution

1983

The King Edward Hotel Owner: King Edward Associates

HISTORIC EVENT: 1st time a satellite is retrieved from orbit, by Space Shuttle

1987

The King Edward Hotel General Manager: James R. Batt

HISTORIC EVENT: Two men become the first to cross the Atlantic Ocean in a hot air balloon –

The Double Eagle II 

1991

The King Edward Hotel General Manager: Bill Croke

Forte Hotels become General Partners

HISTORIC EVENT: Queen Elizabeth becomes 1st British monarch to address US congress

1994

The King Edward Hotel General Manager:  John De Canha

Forte Group acquires Le Meridien Hotels

Prestigious and historic hotels – like The King Edward Hotel – are branded as Le Royal Meridien

1995

The King Edward Hotel Regional Director:  Derek Picot

HISTORIC EVENT: Most distant galaxy yet discovered found by scientists using Keck telescope in Hawaii (est 15 billion light years away)

1997

The King Edward Hotel General Manager:  Jacque Lingé

HISTORIC EVENT: Scientists in Scotland announced they succeeded in cloning an adult mammal, producing a lamb named “Dolly”

1998

Google is launched

1999

The King Edward Hotel General Manager:  Simon Cook

HISTORIC EVENT: The Day of Six Billion: The proclaimed 6 billionth living human in the world is born

 

2001

The King Edward Hotel General Manager:  Tony Cousens

HISTORIC EVENT: Terrorists hijack two passenger planes crashing them into New York’s World Trade Towers causing the collapse of both & death of 2,752 people

2003

The King Edward Hotel was previously owned by Lehman Brothers Bank, through their real estate investment arm when Lehman Brothers Holdings acquired the senior debt of Le Méridien Hotels

2004

The King Edward Hotel’s Only Female General Manager (so far):  Lisa Impagliazzo

HISTORIC EVENT: The super liner Queen Mary 2 embarks on her first Trans-Atlantic crossing, linking the golden age of ocean travel to the modern age of ocean travel

 2005

The King Edward Hotel General Manager: John Guillaumot

The Le Meridien brand was acquired by Starwood Hotels & Resorts – Le Royal Meridien King Edward renamed Le Meridien King Edward

The King Edward Hotel Owner: Starwood Hotels & Resorts

HISTORIC EVENT: YouTube, the popular Internet site on which videos may be shared and viewed by others, is launched in the United States

(The 20 oldest videos on YouTube)

2008

The King Edward Hotel General Manager: Tim Reardon

HISTORIC EVENT: Following the bankruptcies of Lehman Brothers and Washington Mutual, The Dow Jones Industrial Average falls 777.68 points, the largest single-day point loss in its history

2009

Mishorim Development Ltd. purchases the Le Meridien King Edward Hotel in downtown Toronto for C$52 million. The purchase was made through Skyline Executive Acquisitions Inc. – a unit of Skyline International Development Inc. – a subsidiary of Mishorim Development

Gil Blutrich is the Founder and Chairman of Mishorim Group

Starwood is kept as management company of the hotel

2012

The King Edward Hotel Owners: King Edward Realty Inc.

The King Edward Hotel General Manager: Jeff Waters

Skyline Hotels & Resorts has an existing role as asset manager of the hotel