(Submitted Photo/Chels May)

By Derek Craddock

I'LL ALWAYS HAVE YOU!

Local man keeps P.A. landmark inked in history

Aug 5, 2023 | 12:00 PM

Past and present residents of Prince Albert are still sharing stories about the National Hotel including one man who will permanently carry that landmark with him wherever he goes.

About five years ago, Justin Dahl wanted to fill a scene tattooed on his leg. With the help of Wiggy Tattoo, they thought of putting a castle on the scene, but Dahl had another idea.

“We wanted to change it up a little bit so we thought what kind of fun, funny, crazy thing could we do? So, we both just said ‘Hey, let’s do the National,” he said.

The tattoo already featured an image of Cerberus, the three-headed dog that guarded the gates of Hades in Greek Mythology.

Owner of Wiggy Tattoo Wiggy Cameron joked that the National Hotel is sometimes seen as the gate to hell in Prince Albert because of the negative stories that come from the building and the city. Cameron, who spent many years in the P.A. area said the city and the National Hotel do have some positive stories to share.

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“That place has its fair share of awful stories, but for most people, the first thing you see when you see the National, that’s Prince Albert, that is the town,” he said.

Cameron has been a tattoo artist for more than 20 years and spent around half of that time in Prince Albert and Duck Lake.

Dahl recently took a picture of his tattoo in front of the National Hotel in downtown Prince Albert as crews begin to work on the inside with the demolition of the outside expected in a matter of weeks.

READ MORE: Historical city landmark on tap to be demolished

He said it’s sad to see another historical landmark be torn down in Prince Albert but is looking on the bright side.

“The other way of looking at it is hopefully this is turning the page to a new chapter, and we get something bright and exciting and new down there and help bring the city back to the vibrant place it once was.”

As for Cameron, he’s struggling to come with grips that the National will soon be reduced to rubble with a blank canvas.

“It’s a landmark, it’s almost like for New York The Statue of Liberty. It really serves no purpose but it’s there and it just shows where this place is. Why break something that’s not broken?”

Cameron and Dahl are grateful that the famous hotel with still live on in permanent ink.

“At least there’s still memory of something that was there that we all kind of looked at as an iconic image of our town heritage.”

Crews have already begun work on the demolition of the National Hotel, working on the interior of the building.

They will have roughly three weeks’ worth of inside demolition work, and once the inside work is done, they will bring in an excavator to start pulling the building down.

The city anticipates the demolition contractor to begin around Aug. 21 but those timelines are not set in stone and could change.

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derek.craddock@pattisonmedia.com

Twitter: @princealbertnow