Banff National Park Pavilion

Banff National Park Pavilion
The Pavilion, circa 1920
Alternative names	Frank Lloyd Wright Pavilion
General information
Type	Public pavilion
Architectural style	Prairie School
Coordinates	51°10′25″N 115°34′46″W / 51.173720°N 115.579326°W / 51.173720; -115.579326Coordinates: 51°10′25″N 115°34′46″W / 51.173720°N 115.579326°W / 51.173720; -115.579326
Construction started	Designed 1911 Construction 1913
Completed	1914
Demolished	1939
Cost	CAD$20000 $40000 (estimated 1913) $100000 (speculated 1964)
Client	Public Works and Government Services Canada
Dimensions
Other dimensions	200ft x 50ft
Technical details
Floor count	Single
Design and construction
Architect	Frank Lloyd Wright Francis Conroy Sullivan
Main contractor	Bennett, Debman, & Co.

The Banff National Park Pavilion, was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and Francis Conroy Sullivan, Wright's only Canadian student. Designed in 1911, in the Prairie School style, construction began in 1913 and was completed the following year. The pavilion was built on the Recreation Grounds near the south end of the Bow River Bridge on the edge of the town of Banff, itself located within Banff National Park in Alberta. The last of only two Wright designs in Canada, the pavilion was demolished in 1939.

Banff National Park had been established in 1885 as Banff Hot Springs Reserve. Expanded in 1887 as Rocky Mountains Park under the Rocky Mountains Park Act the area became the first national park in Canada, and the second in North America behind Yellowstone. As a national park the controlling authority became the Federal Government of Canada, rather than the province of Alberta.

Sullivan, unrelated to Wright's previous employer Louis Sullivan, had worked in Wright's Oak Park Studio before leaving for Ottawa in 1908 to work for the government as an architect for, as it was then known, the Department of Public Works.

By the 1900s Banff National Park, as it had become known, was increasing in popularity and had become accessible by automobile in 1911. A visitor pavilion was commissioned by government officials in Ottawa. A concept plan had been submitted by residents of Banff to Ottawa, but officials rejected it. Envisioning a more refined structure Wright and Sullivan were hired. The building contract was awarded to Bennett, Debman, & Co., of Calgary who aimed to use local labour and purchase building supplies from local merchants.

After completion, in 1914 during World War I, the pavilion was used as a Quartermaster's store by the Department of National Defence. After the War the main function of the pavilion became a gathering area for tourists waiting on trains.