Excerpt from guelpharts.ca:
Built of local limestone in 1883, this four-and-a-half-storey building replaced a small roughcast hotel know variously as Fuhrey’s, the Bay Horse or Reinhart’s Hotel which had been built in 1860. The architect for the new hotel, called the Commercial Hotel, was John Day, whose father William Day, was a prominent Guelph building contractor. The steepmansard roofs, rising in stages to a central pavilion, still retain their original patterned slate shingles although the iron cresting has been removed. The hotel was built for John Hogg, and was operated by Christian Reinhart. A serious fire in 1887 required reconstruction for Reinhartand and Timothy O’Connor, the owners at that time. The hotel was owned by Reinhart family until mid-1930s, then by the La Fontaine family until late 1960s. In 1975 this structure was the first downtown business block to have its limestone facade cleaned and refurbished. The restoration received a Guelph Arts Council Heritage Award in 1978. Portions of the building have also been designated by the City of Guelph.
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