Edgewater Beach Hotel
Edgewater Beach Hotel | |
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Spanish Colonial Revival[1] | |
Location | 5301-5355 N Sheridan Road Chicago, Illinois |
Country | United States |
Coordinates | 41°59′1″N 87°39′17″W / 41.98361°N 87.65472°W |
Construction started | 1915 |
Completed | 1924 |
Opened | June 3, 1916 |
Demolished | 1971 |
Cost | US $9 million[2] |
Client | John Tobin Connery and James Patrick Connery |
Design and construction | |
Architect(s) | Marshall and Fox[1] |
Edgewater Beach Apartments | ||
MPS Bryn Mawr Avenue Historic District | | |
NRHP reference No. | 94000979[3] | |
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Added to NRHP | August 16, 1994 |
The Edgewater Beach Hotel was a resort hotel complex on
The Edgewater Beach Apartments to the north were completed as part of the hotel resort complex in 1928. The "sunset pink" apartments complemented the "sunrise yellow" hotel buildings in a similar architectural style.[8] The apartments remain and have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Design
Designed by Chicago-based architects Marshall and Fox in September 1915, the complex comprised several buildings and recreation grounds. The Main Building, modeled in the shape of a croix fourchée ("forked cross"), initially had 400 rooms and opened on June 3, 1916. It quickly became a success, with a one-story addition to the northeast and southeast wings of the building added in 1919. In April 1923, construction began on a $3 million, 19 story, 600-room tower addition to the south of the Main Building.[9] The Tower Building, which opened for occupancy on February 9, 1924, had a stepped design, tallest at its center, with lower sections to the east and west of the center. The addition, initially called the Annex, was connected to the Main Building by a large hall known as the Passaggio.[10] High-end shops lined the ground floor of the Sheridan Road side, and a marble-tiled open air dance floor and bandshell, known as the Beach Walk, faced the Lake Michigan side.
The hotel had a 1,200-foot private beach and offered seaplane service to downtown Chicago.[1][11] When both buildings were initially constructed, the hotel sat 20 feet (6.1 m) from Lake Michigan.[12] The 1933 extension of Lake Shore Drive north to Foster Avenue resulted in the creation of a private bathing beach east of the hotel and north of Foster along the Lake Michigan shore.[11][13]
History
The hotel served many famous guests, including
On June 14, 1949,
The 1951–54 extension of
From January 14–17, 1963, the National Conference on Religion and Race was held at the resort.
Apartments
The Edgewater Beach Co-op Apartments, built in 1928, at the north end of the property,[4] and shown in the photo at right, is the only part of the hotel complex to survive and is part of the Bryn Mawr Historic District. As he had before with many his other projects, such as the South Shore Country Club, the Blackstone Hotel, the Drake Hotel and Drake Tower, architect Benjamin Marshall designed the apartment building with accoutrements suited for the well-to-do.[19] It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1994. The apartments stand at the north end of Lake Shore Drive, quite visible to the passing traffic, and unusual in Chicago for the "sunset pink" exterior. When both stood, the color coordinated with the "sunrise yellow" of the hotel.[8]
The retail portion of the current building contains the Anna Held Floral Shop and a restaurant.
Closure and Demolition
The hotel closed abruptly on December 21,1967, following bankruptcy proceedings.[20][21] The hotel had stopped catering to the "carriage trade" and tried to gain convention business, which effort failed.[20] The building was leased to Loyola University in the fall of 1968, for use as a dormitory to house 300 students. By January 31, 1969, the Loyola students residing at the Edgewater Beach relocated to new housing constructed on the University's campus.[22][23] Demolition of the hotel complex began in the fall of 1969 and was completed by 1971.
Following the hotel's demolition, four high-rise apartment buildings of modern architecture (Edgewater Plaza (twin towers), 5415 EdgewaterBeach, and The Breakers at Edgewater Beach) replaced the Edgewater Beach Hotel and its olympic-size swimming pool and putting greens, leaving only the Edgewater Beach Apartments and its gardens as a vestige of the resort's elegance.[24]
Edgewater Gulf Hotel
The developers also built a sister hotel, the Edgewater Gulf Hotel, in Biloxi, Mississippi, which closed in 1970. Both projects were designed by the Chicago architectural firm of Marshall and Fox.
Photo gallery
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Original 1916 hotel
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Site of the Edgewater Beach Hotel complex viewed from the southeast in 2006
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Edgewater Beach Hotel complex viewed from the southeast in 1941
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A postcard of the Edgewater Beach Hotel Chicago Water Front (c. 1948)
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A Postcard of the Edgewater Beach Hotel Chicago Colonnade Room (c. 1948)
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A postcard of the Edgewater Beach Hotel Chicago Marine Dining Room (c. 1948)
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A postcard of an Edgewater Beach Hotel Chicago Front Desk Scene (c. 1948)
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A room bill from the Edgewater Beach Hotel dated November 6, 1948.
References
- ^ a b c "Edgewater Beach Hotel". Emporis. Archived from the original on September 15, 2004. Retrieved August 21, 2008.
- ^ Fuller, Ernest (September 1, 1955). "Ownership of Edgewater Hotel Shifted". Chicago Tribune, Finance. p. 7.
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
- ^ a b "Edgewater Beach Apartments". Emporis. Archived from the original on May 3, 2014. Retrieved May 2, 2014.
- ^ "About Benjamin Marshall". The Benjamin Marshall Society. 2009. Retrieved December 7, 2015.
- ISBN 1-57488-785-8.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-19-538031-6.
- ^ a b Seligman, Amanda (2005). "Edgewater". Encyclopedia of Chicago. Retrieved November 28, 2015.
- ^ "Hotels". Domestic Engineering and the Journal of Mechanical Contracting. 103: 43. 1923.
- ^ "Edgewater Beach Hotel". Edgewater Historical Society. Retrieved June 13, 2014.
- ^ a b Weissman, Ginny. "The Edgewater Beach Hotel: Magic by the Lake". Chicago Stories. WTTW11. Retrieved August 21, 2008.
- ^ Edgewater Beach Apartments Corp. v. Edgewater Beach Management Co. (Ill. App. Ct. 1973) ("The Edgewater Beach Hotel was built in 1916. At the time it was 20 feet from Lake Michigan and had a private beach."), Text.
- ^ "Edgewater Beach Hotel". Edgewater Historical Society. Retrieved May 10, 2014.
- ISBN 978-0615895031.
- ^ Lalli, Michael (June 14, 2011). "A Demented Fan and the Natural". Philly Sports History. Retrieved May 8, 2014.
- ^ Cox, Ted (May 4, 2012). "Chicago sports tragedies: off the field". Chicago Reader. Retrieved May 8, 2014.
- ^ Gavin, James M. (September 15, 1960). "Edgewater Beach Acting to Boost Convention Use". Chicago Tribune, Finance. p. 9.
- ^ "National Conference on Religion and Race". Martin Luther King Jr. and the Global Freedom Struggle. Stanford University. 15 June 2017. Retrieved December 3, 2019.
- ^ Andersen, Jon (January 30, 2003). "Edgewater apartments nearly back in the pink". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved May 9, 2014.
- ^ a b "Landmark Hotel Closing in Chicago; Edgewater Beach, 51 Years Old, Is Bankrupt". New York Times. December 22, 1967. Retrieved January 27, 2019.
The hotel stopped registering new guests and arrangements were being made to move out 65 permanent guest quickly. For those permitted to stay a day or two, there be utilities but no employees.
- ^ Sisson, Patrick (July 3, 2017). "Forgotten hotels: 10 gorgeous resorts lost to history, Classic hotels that showcase amazing architecture". Curbed. Retrieved January 27, 2019.
- ^ Shlensky v. H R Weissberg Corporation. 410 F.2d 1182. United States Court of Appeals, 7th Circuit. 25 April 1969
- ^ McCaughna, Daniel (August 28, 1968). "NEWS Briefs". Chicago Tribune. p. 3.
- ^ Allen, Martha (April 3, 1985). "Edgewater Beach Hotel Kept Alive By Memories". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved February 9, 2019.
External links
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