-=> Quoting Steven Horn to Jim Weller <=-

 JW> We just got another writeup on our winter tourism industry... 
 
 SH> The article also appeared in tonight's Yukon News.

Something local you may not have known about:

Former brothel up in flames

Northern News Services

A 60-year-old building with a colourful history burned to the ground
on Monday. The tiny cabin on Pilot's Lane in Old Town had served
many purposes over the years, including a brothel. "It's really
sad," said Ryan Silke, a member of the NWT Mining Heritage Society.
"We're losing more and more of these buildings. Another one bites
the dust." The building was built in the 1930s by Bert Lundstrom and
Tony Aaria near the junction of Dettah Road and the Ingraham Trail.
Its original use is unclear but Silke said it was most likely used
by trappers in the area. Prior to the Second World War, the building
was moved to its current location. 

"John Anderson-Thompson (Yellowknife's first surveyor who laid out
the present downtown core) used it as storage. It was restaurant
staff housing (Lil's Cafe, Lakeview Cafe). It was a prostitutes'
den." 

He said it was sad to hear the building had burned down. He said the
building, instead of sitting empty, was being used as a guest house.
"I was really happy to hear that an old building like that was
finding some use," he said.

Some background from: http://www.yellowknife.ca
Historical Building Inventory –Old Town and The Rock Area 

ADDRESS: Waterfront behind Glen Warner's place (Bathrust Inlet Air,
Bathurst Inlet Lodge)

PRESENT OWNERS: Mike Ballantyne (previous Minister of Justice)

USES: Mike Ballantyne uses it as a guest house

ORIGINAL OWNERS: Bert Lundstrom and Tony Aaria

PAST OWNERS: Bert Lundstrom and Tony Aaria; Lilian Bretzlaff 1940s
(Lil's Cafe); John Anderson- Thompson 1952; Glen Warner 1985

PAST USES: This log cabin was apparently built in the early 1930s
near the junction of Dettah Road and the Ingraham Trail by Bert
Lundstrom and Tony Aaria. It was moved to this location prior to
1944. It has been remembered that George Shank and his family of six
lived in this cabin in the late 1930s-early 1940s. Lillian Bretzlaff
was listed on the 1946 Tax Roll as owner who used it as a staffhouse
for her Lakeview Cafe. George LeBel had the building after 1948, and
John Anderson-Thompson bought it in 1952 for storage. It had also
been used as a bunkhouse, prostitutes abode, and laundry over the
years. Glen Warner bought it from Anderson-Thompson's estate in 1985
and sold it to Shirley Johnson, who used it for storage and a sauna.

YEAR BUILT: 1930s

BUILDER: Bert Lundstrom and Tony Aaria

ORIGINAL SITE: Near the junction of Dettah Road and Ingraham trail

RELOCATION: pre-1944 the cabin was dismantled and rebuilt on this site.

COMMENTS and NOTES: Bert Lundstrom and Tony Aaria apparently
supplied fish to the Great Bear Lake region, but as to why they
would have operated from Yellowknife Bay is unknown. This story,
which was presumambly told to Susan Jackson by John
Anderson-Thompson, may have been inaccurate. Patricia Marsolais(nee
Shank) came back to Yellowknife in 2001 and remembered having lived
in this cabin the late 1930s-early1940s. SOURCES: Patricia
Marsolais; Susan Jackson 1986 Inventory


Cheers

YK Jim


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