NEWELL, Frank Valentine (1867-1926) was 'one of the leading architects in America who makes a specialty of hotel construction'. His only work in Canada was an ambitious design for the Tourist Hotel, Main Street at Second Street South, KENORA, ONT., 1907-10 (Manitoba Free Press [Winnipeg], 28 May 1907, 14, illus. & descrip.; Kenora Miner, 31 July 1907, 1, descrip.; 20 Aug. 1910, 1, descrip.). Unlike most hotels built by the Canadian railway companies, this substantial landmark was financed solely by a company created by local Kenora citizens anxious to make their town the hub of trade in northwestern Ontario. During the following year, in 1908, Newell drew plans for The Buena Vista Hotel, on ISLE NEWELL, ONT, on Rainy Lake, about five miles from Kenora, and about 1/4 mile from the mainland, on the Canadian side of the border. A perspective view and detailed description of this proposal were published in the Winnipeg Tribune, 20 Jan. 1908, 1, but it is unclear if this complex was built.
From his office in Chicago, Newell also designed dozens of hotels in cities and towns in the American mid-west. He moved to Florida after 1910 and continued to practice there, designing the Fleetwood Hotel, the McAllister Hotel, and the famous Ponce de Leon Hotel in Miami. Newell died in Miami on 6 September 1926 (obituary Palm Beach Post, 7 Sept. 1926, 5; obit. in the Illinois Society of Architects Monthly Bulletin, ii, Nov. 1926, 6).