Temple Gardens thriving part of Moose Jaw renaissance

L to R, Cheryl Chase and Deb Thorn of Temple Gardens Mineral Spa, with Yvette Moore, who owns Moose Jaw’s museum and art gallery.

MOOSE JAW, SK – During February, the Temple Gardens Mineral Spa in Moose Jaw has well over 80 per cent occupancy.  And no wonder.  Its steaming, warming mineral pool provides an oasis in the icy Saskatchewan winter.  The hotel is a 179-room going concern with links to Casino Moose Jaw and the Moose Jaw Tunnels, plus a spa, a gift shop specializing in swimsuits, a restaurant and a coffee shop.

But the hotel and the city around it wasn’t always so attractive.

When Cheryl Chase—now sales and marketing manager for the hotel—first came to Moose Jaw to visit her future in-laws 16 years ago, she said she would never live there in a million years.

But the intervening years have seen something of a renaissance in this prairie city of 34,000 less than an hour west of Regina.  Back in the 1990s, a group of local business people including Deb Thorn, who is now general manager of Temple Gardens, wanted to build something to revitalize the town.  They turned their focus to the tourism market.

“They all threw $25 into a hat. It’s an amazing story.  They got more than 1,100 shareholders and raised the funds to build a 70-room hotel around the town’s natural mineral pool. The hotel was built on the same site as the old Harwood Hotel, which was demolished in the 1980s. It took its name and some of its design features from the Temple Gardens Dance Hall, which was built in 1911 and for many years was one of the town’s premier gathering places.

Two and a half years ago, the shareholders sold the hotel, which now has 179 rooms, to Atlific Hotels & Resorts for more than $20 million.

Thanks in part to its roots as a community endeavour, the Temple Gardens Resort & Spa has links to other Moose Jaw attractions, boasting a multi-year partnership with Casino Moose Jaw and the Moose Jaw Tunnels, where Al Capone hid out, and where Chinese railroad labourers toiled underground to avoid the dreaded head tax.

“In the early days, when tour groups came, there was nothing to do,” Chase told CLN. “It’s a destination now, with an air show in summer, and a museum and art gallery that features shows ranging from War Brides of Canada to how we are changing our foods through genetic modification.”

Next on the list of Moose Jaw developments is a new multiplex arena to be built.  And the Little Chicago development on River Street, which includes another hotel, is scheduled to be built by 2012.

Plans for the future include 75 more guest rooms.  “The demand is there,” said Chase.
A 1,000-person conference centre is another possibility. “We did a feasibility study talking to 25 associations, provincial and national.  Not one organization said they wouldn’t come to Moose Jaw if we had the facilities.  If we build it, they will come…”

Last year was a record year for the resort in terms of revenue. They employ more than 200 people plus seasonal workers.  “We did our [2009] budget before September.  We didn’t get a chance to change it, but we’re meeting it,” Chase said.

Chase anticipates that bookings will be more Internet-driven than before. They’re very conscious of geographical factors : “We know when the school breaks take place in Manitoba.” 

Temple Gardens prides itself on listening to guest opinions. There are flags from many different countries and provinces, strung from the vaulted ceiling above the inside portion of the pool.  One renovation idea was to take down the flags and use the ceiling as an architectural feature.  But the guests would have none of it, said Chase.  “After complaints from the guests, maintenance put the flags back up.”