Hockey legend Glen Sather is donating his home in Banff to be used as a studio for artists.

Glen Sather, who coached the Edmonton Oilers to five Stanley Cups, is currently the president and general manager of the New York Rangers.Glen Sather, who coached the Edmonton Oilers to five Stanley Cups, is currently the president and general manager of the New York Rangers.
(Mark Lennihan/Associated Press)

Sather, former player and coach of the Edmonton Oilers and current general manager and president of the New York Rangers, is giving the house to the Banff Centre, the arts institution said Thursday.

The historic Painter House on Buffalo Street was built in 1913 by Walter Painter, the same American architect who helped design the Banff Springs Hotel.

Sather bought the 1,800-square-foot house from Painter's daughter. He and his family plan to build a new home on the property, but wanted the Painter House to be preserved.

"I just thought it would be a good idea to keep this home for posterity," Sather told CBC News. "It's been a beautiful part of the town's history and I've been living in Banff since the early '60s myself and it is home for us so I didn't want to see it torn down."

Mary Hofstetter, president of the Banff Centre, said the one-and-a-half storey house will be relocated to the Leighton Artists' Colony, a group of eight studios designed by different Canadian architects nestled in the woods on the centre's campus.

The centre said the Painter House will be the ninth studio used by professional artists on retreats.

The Painter House was built in 1913.The Painter House was built in 1913.
(Banff Lodging Co.)

"It is absolutely a win-win," Hofstetter said Thursday. "It's a win for the Sathers, for the town, for the Banff Centre and particularly a win for the artists who will be able to use this studio and be inspired to create wonderful new work."

Subject to planning approvals, the historic house is scheduled to be moved to the centre this spring.

Sather coached the Edmonton Oilers to five Stanley Cups and later became the team's president and general manager before stepping down in 2000. He became the first member of the Oilers organization to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.