Columbus Hotel
Louis Zimmaro arrived in Prince George in 1913 to work on a section crew constructing the Grand Truck Pacific Railway. He built the first Columbus Hotel on Second Avenue. In 1920, he constructed a new, larger Columbus Hotel in two phases on the north side of Third Avenue between Quebec and Dominion streets. Carpenter Peter Anderson, owner of Anderson's Lumber Yard (located next door) finished the building in 1927. A brick addition was completed in 1929, adding 24 rooms and installing fire walls. In the summer of 1930 large display newspaper advertisements described the hotel as an "up-to-date" and "fireproof" hotel.
Louis and his wife, Teresina, operated the 46-room hotel as a family business. Their main clientele were the region's loggers and mill workers who came in to two for the weekend. At that time, there was great competition for customers among the Columbus, Europe and Prince George hotels. Mr. Zimmaro would put on a chauffeur's cap and meet the train to offer potential guests a ride to the hotel in his car.
The first large commercial dish-washing machine was acquired in 1949. It was capable of cleaning up to 4,000 beer glasses an hour.
In 1950, Mr. Zimmaro sold the Columbus Hotel for $100,000 to a Vancouver interest. A tragic and devastating fire swept through the hotel on Tuesday, 19 August 2008 at 7:00 a.m. The Third Avenue landmark was destroyed.
Information about the tragic fire that destroyed the old hotel and killed three people is available online (visit link) (visit link).