This postcard dates to the late 1940’s and shows the original building before additions.
The building today.
A postcard from the late 1950’s of the entire complex. Like taken after the motel was built in 1956.
A view of the lobby of the motel building. Classic 1950’s design, and hard to see/appreciate from speeding by on Dougall Ave.
A flyer from 1956 advertising an upcoming show with Roberta Sherwood.
A ticket to see Tom Jones from 1972. Note the ticket states “Detroit Time”, as back then, Daylight Savings Time wasn’t always consistent, so there could be an hour difference between Windsor and Detroit.
Another flyer from 1956, showing a partial list of some the entetainment to appear so far, and upcoming shows.
The interior of the brochure showing some interior shots.
Here’s a plan from February 6, 1964 that was never realized:
MOTEL PLANS $425,000 EXPANSION
A $425,000 expansion to the Elmwood Motor Hotel complex to provide. 20,000 square feet of office space and an additional 20 motel units has been announced. Construction is to start soon on the two-storey, 200,000 square foot office building to be located in front of the present motel entrance.
Work is due to start at the same time on construction of 20 motel units, adjoining the last motel section, erected two years
ago. The $200,000 addition is scheduled for completion by June. An additional 18 motel units will be added at a later date, boosting the total number to 105.The office building, estimated at $205,000, will be located on the southern edge of the Elmwood property. This building of glass and face brick, is designed to influence American businesses as well as companies in Montreal and Toronto to locate branch facilities in Windsor.
Parking facilities will be at the rear of the building, and a 100-car lot for visitors in front. The 10-acre site outside the city limits will be expanded into a $3,000,000 complex of business, entertainment and lodging facilities, the first such project in North America.
The engineering firm of Giffels Associates of Windsor. Leasing for the office building will be handled Through Ivan Thrasher, president of Ivan W. Thrasher Realty Ltd.
The Elmwood complex is owned by Al Siegel, a Toronto businessman, who purchased the property 18 years ago when it was occupied by an old hotel and Casino operation. He rebuilt the premises and the last major addition and remodeling of the supper club eight years ago brought its value up to $1,500,000. The motel constructed seven years ago, is valued at $1,000,000 before the current addition.
Interesting that as late as 1964 that area was still outside City Limits. Any idea what the “CL” phone exchange stands for?
The 1956 flyer shows a 10% hospital tax, up to a maximum of $1.00 .
CL = Clearwater Telephone Exchange or simply put 25, so CL 4 Would be 254.
My neighbour used to be a chef there in the late ’60s and early ’70s and remembers some of the guests there. He told me a story that late at night he had a highly respective Detroiter come in just as the kitchen was closing and would always ask him to make him a steak as he liked the way he made it. So my neighbour would fire up the grill and cook him a meal and everytime this Detroiter would leave him a tip of approx. $40.00US just to have the pleasure of eating late at night and have it cooked by him.
What a great place Windsor USED to be.
Why was the Elmwood Casino closed then? And, how did it become the Brentwood rehab centre? Did the province pull their casino license? It sounds odd that a casino would just go bankrupt, esp. since bingo parlours were really popular with Windsorites back then.
It does seem like a paradox that such a place would close up just like that. Ditto for the Top Hat. I think it was just a situation of changing times. Tom Jones and The Three Suns were all the rage in the early ’60s but the whole lounge act scene just didn’t last forever. Sure, you can point to Vegas but they have world class casinos and attractions to support it. As far as I know, there never was gambling at the Elmwood. It just faded away, sadly.
Jeeves and John, you’ll have to tune in tomorrow for part III for the answer to those questions…
Wow, great archiving and thanks for your diligence. and the memories. This is a page from our past.
I remember celebrating special occasions at the Elmwood and seeing Paul Anka there.
If we all speak to our families, I’m certain our parents can fill in some of the blanks.
Also, this Casnio didn’t have gambling.
There is a Casino on Belle Isle in Detroit that never had gambing either.
By definition:
Casino:
1. A public room or building for gambling and other entertainment.
Word History: The history of the word casino reveals a transformation from a cottage to a gambling palace. The source of our word, Italian casino, is a diminutive of casa, “house.” Central to the transformation is the development of the senses of casino in Italian. The word was first applied to a country house and then came to be used for a social gathering place, a room or building where one could dance, listen to music, and gamble. This last pastime seems to have gained precedence over the others, at least as far as the development of the word is concerned, and casino took on the meaning “gambling establishment.” These senses of the Italian word have all been borrowed into English, the sense “social gathering place” being recorded first in the 18th century, the sense “gambling establishment” first in 1851.
I don’t get it. Why wouldn’t they have gambling there? Even a child could recognize the huge multiple streams of income from gambling when they’re bringing in big names like Tom Jones, that would attract high rollers. How long did Windsor Raceway have slots for? Did Windsor Raceway have a monopoly on slot machines back then? There must have been some kind of government ban or moratorium that prevented them from gambling here. I can’t see any sane entrepreneur passing up on such an opportunity. Not to mention the fact that Al Seigel also ran the Windsor raceway at one point. And, why would Al Seigel buy this place and expand it if he knew he wouldn’t be able to bring casino gambling there? It seems really odd that at no point in it’s history did this establishment ever have casino gambling.
Jeeves, the slots at Windsor Raceway are a relatively recent arrival, ie. mid/late 1990s. Casino gambling in Windsor started being discussed in the late ’80s with the temporary casino itself opening around 1993’ish. Just going by memory here so +/- a year or so on those dates. Either way, casino gambling in Windsor came along a good twenty years after nails started pounding into Elmwood’s coffin. I do agree it seems strange that it was called a “Casino” but as Andrew’s research has indicated, the word “casino” was apparently used in a more archaic context for Elmwood. And yes, there were great legal obstacles in making Casino Windsor a reality, many of which I’m sure a private establishment like Elmwood would have no chance of surmounting in the ’60s.
What a nice surprise to find that there is a Web site devoted to the Elmwood. I knew nothing about the place until last weekend when I bought a 1940s vintage postcard at a collectors show The fold-out card features the same photo of the Elmwood in the 40s that I see on this page.
On a whim I went online to see if the place still exists and I was delighted to find all this inromation.
“Nice Post – adding this to RSS now ^^
About your design, which theme is being used at the moment? I know someone who would to know if it’s a free one.”
My late father in law – Jack Madden, was the orchestra leader at the Elmwood Casino. He was hired in 1947 for a 2 week engagement and stayed for 19 years. During his reign he played with numerous big name stars ranging from Louis Armstron, Ella Fitzgerald, Sammy Davis, Tom Jones, Jimmy Durnate, Tony Bennett, Liberace and numerous other personalities. The nightclub scene began to fail when performing stars began to price themselves out of business. Ten fold increases were not out of line, for example Sammy Davis played the Elmwood with the Will Mastin Trio for $800. a week in the fifties. He was now earning over $10,000 a show at the death of the Elmwood. Tom Jones played one of the last shows in 1973 where he too commanded $10,000. per night.
It is sad to see the disappearance of the big bands and shows at places such as the Elmwood.
Just a thank you for this web-site. I was not fortunate enough to attend any shows, but was aware of it, and love to read about how good Windsor entertainment used to be. There is an email message going around about the history of Windsor, and it has prices and souvenirs of the Elmwood at the end of the photos. That is what prompted my web ‘search’.
Thanks again ‘for the memories’.
Pat
im glad this web site is here. my late mother Anna Busko worked in the kitchen during the 1960s, her boss in the kitchen was Chef Edward. after shows, my mother of polish descent and oblivious to the stars of that time was always helpful to the stars after the show. Sammy Davis Jr. Jimmy Durante and others would stroll to the kitchen for an after performance snack. My mom didnt know these people or who they were, just an ordinary kitchen helper. she later found out about the notoriety of these stars. to her it was, oh well, nice person. but when she saw them later on network T V shed always reflect on the memories of meeting them. she was proud to work at the elmwood casino. she always took pride in her job there. she would get upset if at the train tracks by the elmwood the train would hold her up and make her worry being late for work.. she was NEVER late. my mom gaves me a tour of the elmwood when she was working there. she was so proud to show it off. she showed me everything right down to the kitchen and glasses behind the bar that she polished. it seemed like a special place. thank you mama for the memories.
in adiition to what i said about my late mom, the elmwood casino was a great place to work for her and her talents were used to make it an even more special place. the elmwood casino was special to work at and she always took pride in that. chef edward would have leftover steaks at the end of the night. my mom brought them home. they were not wasted. we ate them. best steaks in windsor. even though it was a minimum wage paying job, my mom loved the elmwood casino for the opportunity they gave her. the elmwood casino is gone, but the memories live on forever.
In the late 70’s and early 80’s we used to flock to the Elmwood Casino after the Detroit clubs closed at 2:00 AM. The Elmwood would not open until 1:30 AM and closed at 6 or 7 AM. This was the disco era and we would dance until morning.
My Mother in Law rescued two big mermaids from the Elmwood Casino when it was being converted into what is now Brentwood. Husband said From what he was told his mother found them barely hanging onto the wall around a bar somewhere in the old Elmwood. that’s all we know. If anyone has any information on these or how old they are we really would like to know. Thank you, any information would be great.
I took over as lightman/soundman after my uncle retired. I worked with him from 1965-70 and then took over 1970-73. The reason the Elmwood closed was because the acts decided to bring their own musicians and family along which ended up costing up to $100,000 a week.
The Elmwood couldn’t support this. Al Siegel decided to try dinner theater for a couple years using a New York production company that went OK but he had spent a ton of money on the Race track deal and he was getting older so he just pulled out. Al Siegel will always be remembered as a huge contributor of making Windsor known to the rest of the World. The sad note is that very few people are still alive who worked there. I had the pleasure of spending a lot time with all the stars and getting to know them away from the spotlights.
I have a million memories of the Elmwood and I often think about them when I need to smile.
I was wondering if anyone would remember a singer that performed there in the 40’s or 50’s. Her name was Myrna Atkinson or she might have gone by Myrna Wilson.