The Blackstone Hotel is the highest hotel in downtown Fort Worth, Texas, at an altitude of 268 feet (82 m). Located on the corner of Fifth and Main Streets, this hotel is famous for Art Deco with terracotta ornaments with setbacks upstairs. The hotel was built in 1929, and sits hollow for almost 20 years. The Blackstone Hotel guest list is full of famous people including the president of the United States from President Harry Truman to President Richard Nixon. The hotel also hosts several movie stars. The building was restored in the late 1990s and is still used today as the Courtyard Fort Worth Downtown/Blackstone .
Video Blackstone Hotel (Fort Worth, Texas)
Blackstone Hotel (1929-1952)
The 23-story Blackstone Hotel with 284 rooms has an official grand opening on October 10, 1929. The hotel is built by a C.A. breeder "Gus" O'Keefe and designed by architects are Mauran, Russell & amp; Crowell from St. Louis; contractors are Bellows and Marclay. The famous Fort Worth resident, Amon G. Carter, was the first guest of the new Blackstone Hotel.
The structure is built with reinforced concrete, and the exterior features buff color bricks with terracotta ornaments. The facade of the ground floor is faced with Minnesota granite. The setback upstairs allows the private outdoor terrace for guests. The interior features a two-storey lobby with a mezzanine, wide staircase, Venetian ballroom, and Italian marble placed on pillars and floors throughout.
Fort Worth's first radio station, WBAP, was based outside of the Blackstone Hotel in the mid-1930s. The hotel was first run by Wallace N. Robinson Hotels Company and taken over by H. Fuller Stevens, from Dallas, in 1946.
Maps Blackstone Hotel (Fort Worth, Texas)
Hilton Hotel (1952-1962)
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In 1952, Blackstone was under the ownership of Conrad Hilton. Over the next 10 years, the building will be known as the Hilton Hotel. During that time, additional built in the south, adding additional ground surface retail, new ballroom, meeting room, and rooftop swimming pool. The interior renovation is done, including closing in the two-story lobby and turning the mezzanine floor into second floor. Blackstone Hotel (1962-1982)
The Hilton Hotel is again on sale and its name is returned to the Blackstone Hotel. Over the next twenty years, a downturn in business forced hotel closures due to the bankruptcy of the owner, seeing his last guest in 1982.
Empty (1982-1997)
The hotel was closed in 1982, cultivated for almost twenty years. The windows and doors on the ground floor are closed, covered by murals painted by locals. Many upstairs windows are broken or open, allowing rain and birds to enter the structure, causing further damage. The windows on the upper floors were removed for unknown reasons and the basement was flooded for years.
Recovery (1997-1999)
The Blackstone Hotel building was purchased by Historic Restoration, Inc. (HRI) based in Louisiana with an estimated $ 2.2 million in 1997 and restoration started in 1998. Exterior elevators were installed and workers gathered in the building. The city of Fort Worth contributed 10 years of bed tax to Marriott Corp. in pursuit of recovery.
No original interior images are known, so HRI documents every aspect of the building, including floor to ceiling height measurement and mechanical equipment. The original ceiling plaster found hidden behind a suspended ceiling was found. The inside is crushed into the floor plates, stairs, and elevator holes. This includes removal of escalators in the lobby, tearing and replacing all electricity and pipes. The living room window frames, made of cypress wood, are restored and the glass shards replaced.
The annex, originally built when the hotel was part of the Hilton chain in the 1950s, converted into an indoor valet parking garage while the upstairs hosts an additional room, pool, hot tub and workout room.
The original Italian marble in the lobby has been removed during previous renovations, but the marble from the Venetian Ballroom vestibule is used on the pillars and around the lifts. Molding is a terracotta mold on the first floor on the outside, and placed on top of the column in the lobby. The exterior was washed and restored to its original appearance. Very little touched on the outside due to the importance of the history of the building. A small set of indigenous terrazzo steps leading to everywhere stays in the lobby due to its historical significance.
Estimated cost of restoration is $ 26 million. Ruth Carter Stevenson, daughter of the famous Fort Worth Amon G. Carter (first guest of the Blackstone Hotel in 1929), was the first guest of Courtyard by Marriott Fort Worth Downtown-Blackstone in 1999.
Courtyard by Marriott Fort Worth/Blackstone (1999 ) -hows)
Blackstone is officially branded Courtyard by Marriott Fort Worth Downtown-Blackstone and reopened to the public on April 7, 1999, offering 203 rooms on 20 floors with Corner Bakery Cafe on the ground floor. Artifacts from 70 years of hotel history featured during its opening on April 6th & amp; 7, 1999. The rooftop pool and whirlpool spa are located in the original Hilton pavilion. The hotel also offers meeting rooms (1,262 square feet), lobby bar, room service, internet access and an exercise room.
In 2004-2005, Courtyard by Marriott-Blackstone received a $ 1.5 million renovation including caulking and repainting windows. Over 2,000 pounds is used. New furniture, beds, and curtains installed. The hot tub overlooking the pool on the pavilion roof was replaced with a Mini Gym.
The Blackstone House is sold to Austin, Texas, Summit Hotel Properties in 2017.
Building owner
1929-1946 (?) Wallace N. Robinson Hotel Perusahaan
1946-1952 H. Fuller Stevens dari Dallas, Texas
Hotel Hilton 1952-1962
1997-2005 (?) Historic Restoration, INC. Dari New Orleans, Louisiana
Manajer hotel
2001 - Now Jed Wagenknecht
Structure facts
- Address: 601 Main Street Fort Worth, Texas 76102
- Phone: (817) 885-8700
- Height: 268Ã, ft/82m
- Floor: 23
- Architectural style: Modern Movement
- Built with reinforced concrete, terra cotta ornament with art deco.
- The top two floors are not public spaces. They are primarily his crown.
- Developer (1929): C.A. "Gus" O'Keefe
- Architects: Mauran, Russell & amp; Crowell
- Contractor (1929): Bellow and Marclay
- Restoration developer (1997): Historic Restoration, INC. from New Orleans, LA
- Renovation (2005): Symmetric, LLC
- Construction & amp; Renovation: 1929, 1952, 1997-1999
- Abandoned: 1982-1997
- Hotel name: Blackstone Hotel, Hilton Hotel, Blackstone Hotel, Courtyard by Marriott
Blackstone Hotel Speaking of the City
- Fort Worth's first radio station, WBAP, was located on one of those floors in the 1930s.
- Sid Richardson owns a penthouse at Blackstone for $ 750 a month from 1929-1932.
- The President of the United States who has lived in Blackstone: Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Richard M. Nixon.
- Famous famous people to go to Blackstone include Bob Hope, Clark Gable and Elvis Presley
- Local public figure live in Blackstone: Amon Carter, Sid Richardson
Final Thought
Added to the National Register of Historic Places (Building # 84001961) on February 2, 1984, Courtyard by Marriott will always be known as the "Blackstone Hotel" for those who live or have a relationship with Fort Worth.
Photo gallery
See also
- List of Historic Historic Places of Interest in Tarrant County, Texas
- Take down the Texas Historic Place in Tarrant County
References
Further reading
- Bryan Burrough (2009). The Big Rich . Penguin Group (USA). ISBN: 978-1-59420-199-8.
External links
- The Fort Worth Downtown/Blackstone official website
- 360 Fort Worth Courtyard by Marriott
- American Historic Site of Blackstone Hotel - One of America's Historic Places in Texas
- Architecture in Fort Worth: Blackstone Courtyard by Marriott
- Atlas Data: The State of Texas
- Emporis.com Blackstone Hotel
- List of National Historic Sites
- Blackstone Hotel Recovery Restoration
- Symmetric, LLC Project Portfolio
- Yahoo! Courtyard by Marriott Fort Worth Downtown-Blackstone
- Dismuke's Hit of the Week
- 1998, October 23 "Fort Worth's development license reached a record high" Dallas Business Journal
- 1999, March 12 "Second time around" Dallas Business Journal
- 1999, April 5 "Art deco grandeur alive in renovated Blackstone" Dallas Business Journal
- 2004, December 31 "FW's Blackstone to get a $ 1.5M makeover" Dallas Business Journal
- 2005, June 24 "FW Hotel with high profile ready to change hands" Dallas Business Journal
- 2009, Feb. 5 The author discusses Fort Worth's Sid Richardson book, another Texas Fort Worth Star-Telegram oil dynasty
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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