The Hollenden Hotel was a luxury

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

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Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

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. It opened in 1885, was significantly upgraded in 1926 and demolished in 1962. During the hotel's existence, it contained 1,000 rooms, 100 private baths, a lavish interior, electric lights and fireproof construction. As Cleveland's most glamorous hotel of the time, it hosted

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celebrities Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group as a result of the attention given to them by mass media. An individual may attain a celebrity status from having great wealth, their participation in sports ...

and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

s, including five

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. The Fifth Third Center skyscraper currently occupies the hotel's former location.Encyclopedia of Cleveland History: HOLLENDEN HOTEL
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History

Liberty E. Holden, a

real estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...

investor An investor is a person who allocates financial capital with the expectation of a future Return on capital, return (profit) or to gain an advantage (interest). Through this allocated capital most of the time the investor purchases some specie ...

and owner of ''

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'', purchased the land from Philo Chamberlain and created a

corporation A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and r ...

to build the hotel; he hired the Cleveland

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

George F. Hammond to design it. He selected the name Hollenden, an early English form of the name Holden. When the hotel opened on June 7, 1885, it was considered a technological marvel because every room was equipped with electric lights and the building was fireproofed. Adding to the hotel's glamor, it contained 1,000 rooms, 100 private baths, a

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shop along with several bars and clubs. The hotel housed permanent as well as temporary residents. The hotel's interiors consisted of paneled walls, redwood and

mahogany Mahogany is a straight-grained, reddish-brown timber of three tropical hardwood species of the genus ''Swietenia'', indigenous to the AmericasBridgewater, Samuel (2012). ''A Natural History of Belize: Inside the Maya Forest''. Austin: Unive ...

fittings and were finished off with

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chandelier A chandelier (; also known as girandole, candelabra lamp, or least commonly suspended lights) is a branched ornamental light fixture designed to be mounted on ceilings or walls. Chandeliers are often ornate, and normally use incandescent li ...

s. During the hotel's history, it had a reputation for hosting celebrities, industrial giants and various politicians, including the former U.S. Presidents McKinley,

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, Taft,

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and

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stayed there in 1921 upon his first visit to the

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. In particular, politicians made the dining room a popular place for meetings. In 1929, the hotel hosted a dinner for

Prince Nicholas of Romania Prince Nicholas of Romania ( ro, Principele Nicolae al României; 5 August 1903 – 9 June 1978), later known as Prince Nicholas of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, was the fourth child and second son of Ferdinand I of Romania, King Ferdinand I of Ro ...

and in 1960, it was the location for a speech by then-

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. In the 1920s, it was purchased by Detroit real estate investor

Ben Tobin Ben Tobin (November 8, 1903 – June 7, 1996) was an American real estate developer, philanthropist, and investor in Broadway shows.New York Times: "Ben Tobin, 92, Investor in Hotels And in Real Estate" by Wolfgang Saxon
June 16, 1996 A $5 million annex was built on the east side of the hotel in 1926, while the original hotel was modernized. From there, the hotel would have several owners until its final owner, the 600 Superior Corp bought it in 1960. The 600 Superior Corp did not have much success profiting from the hotel as only 350 of the 1,000 rooms were now commonly used. In 1962, only two years after buying the hotel, the owners closed the hotel and had it demolished. The 600 Superior Corp along with developer James M. Carney subsequently built a new hotel, the 14-story, 400-room Hollenden House. The new hotel with a parking garage was opened on March 1, 1965. Poor economic conditions in Cleveland during the 1980s sealed the fate of the Hollenden House and it closed in May 1989. Later in 1989, the Hollenden House was demolished and soon after, developer

John Galbreath John Wilmer Galbreath (August 10, 1897 – July 20, 1988) was an American building contractor and sportsman. Born in Derby, Ohio, he grew up in Mount Sterling, Ohio, where he graduated from high school. He then graduated from Ohio University in ...

purchased the site and had the Bank One Center, now known as Fifth Third Center, constructed by 1992.

Events at the Hollenden

On March 18, 1909 the 8-year-old son of a leading attorney in

Sharon, Pennsylvania Sharon is a city in western Mercer County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city, located along the banks of the Shenango River on the state border with Ohio, is about northeast of Youngstown, about southeast of Cleveland and about northwest o ...

, Willie Whitla, was kidnapped for $10,000 ransom. After the money was delivered the boy was released unharmed and put on a streetcar in Cleveland and reunited with his father at the Hollenden. The kidnappers were caught with $9,790 of the money."Early Victim of Kidnap Plot Dies as Prey to Pneumonia", ''The Salt Lake Tribune'', December 29, 1932

References

{{coord, 41.501371, -81.689675, display=title, format=dms Hotel buildings completed in 1885 Buildings and structures demolished in 1962 History of Cleveland Hotels in Cleveland Demolished hotels in the United States 1885 establishments in Ohio Demolished buildings and structures in Ohio