Tag Archives: hotel

Haven Motel Demolition

The Haven Motel (formerly Lein Motel) was one of the early urbex locations that inspired American Urbex. After discovering the location I did a quick Google search and discovered that the diminutive motel once attracted international celebrity. I have occasionally kept tabs on the accelerated decay of the location since moving into the area.

It seems now that the property owners are no longer content with leaving the units to the will of nature. The overgrowth has been cleared and trees converted into mulch. The structures are now fully exposed to the elements. If they are not intentionally knocked down in the short-term, they will certainly fall much faster than when they were under tree cover.

Excerpt from local news source Ft. Atkinson Daily Union:

Lloyd and Myrtle Lein purchased the 28.6-acre farm in December 1929 after 11 years of farming in the Albion area. The Leins continued farming, and the first of the cabins were built in 1931, as well as the filling station that accompanied them.

In 1938 the motel had been expanded to 10 cabins. By the late 1930s, Myrtle Lein was serving lunches at the filling station, and by the mid-1940s there were 20 cabins on the property. Lloyd Lein did all of the construction himself, doing all of the masonry, electrical and plumbing works. Myrtle sewed all of the curtains and awnings for the cabins.

…

The Lein?Motel was a good stopping point between Chicago and Minneapolis, and cost $1 per night if you brought your own linens; $1.25 if the Leins supplied linens. The motel was one of the first located on Highway 12.

The property sported its own well, and two individual farm “electric plants” that provided electricity. When the power lines were extended from the Star School property one-quarter-mile north of the cabins, Lloyd Lein signed a contract agreeing to pay $3.50 per month for electricity.

In my Haven Motel Flickr set there are photos from past and the most recent visit.

American Urbex E.08 – The Purple Hotel

An odd Chicagoland building played host to famous faces in its prime, but is now on the verge of demolition. In this episode host Ken Fager takes a look at the history of the Purple Hotel in Lincolnwood, Illinois.

Subscribe to the American Urbex Podcast on iTunes.

The Purple Hotel article on American Urbex

The Purple Hotel set on Flickr

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Search for “Purple Hotel” on Flickr

American Urbex Group on Flickr

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The Purple Hotel

Photo: You can’t miss the regal facade of this building driving on Touhy Avenue.

According to one Chicago area native, the construction crew of the 293 room Lincolnwood Hyatt House were supposed to receive a shipment of blue bricks for the building facade. It isn’t clear if a communication or manufacturing error is to blame for the royal purple hue of the bricks, but Hyatt continued construction in spite of the error. Thus, an eccentric Chicago north-side suburb hotspot was born. Although the lodging operated under the Hyatt, Ramada, and Regency banners throughout the years locals colloquially dubbed it “The Purple Hotel.”

Photo: Law books adorn the shelves of TJ’s restaurant connected to the hotel.

In the early the early years the hotel enjoyed a certain level of grandeur. In the 1960’s and 70’s the hotel was a swinging Chicago hotspot. Famous musicians such as Barry Manilow, Roberta Flack, and Perry Como stayed in the hotel when in the Chicago area. The high times came to a screeching halt in 1983 when Teamster Allen Dorfman was murdered in the parking lot. Dorfman had been convicted of conspiring to bribe a US senator and faced up to 55 years in prison. When walking through the parking lot Dorfman was shot eight times with a .22 calibre pistol. FBI wiretaps revealed that the Chicago Mafia may have been connected to the execution style murder. Officials speculate that Dorfman was killed out of fear that he would divulge information from his 30 years of ties with organized crime figures. To date the case is still unsolved and whomever is responsible is still on the loose. The same year the head of Gerber Plumbing, Oscar Gerber, was also murdered at the hotel. A disturbed employee believed he was going to be fired and took Oscar’s life into his own hands.

In 1984 limousine driver George Koehler was standing at O’Hare airport waiting for his fare. After most of the passengers from the flight filed out of the airport Koehler asked the pilots if anyone remained on the plane. The pilots informed Koehler that one more person remained and would be coming shortly. Once the passenger arrived, Koehler ferried the young basketball player who had never been to Chicago before to the purple Lincolnwood Hyatt House. According to ESPN, Koehler and Michael Jordan remain friends to this day.

Photo: Swim at your own risk.

After more than 40 years in operation the hotel was taken over in late 2004 by Village Resorts, Inc., which officially christened the building with its affectionate “The Purple Hotel” moniker. Under new management the hotel boasted of its modernity.

We feature fully renovated and tastefully furnished guest rooms. To ensure that you are completely comfortable, each guest room is spacious and provides a number of amenities to meet the needs of today’s traveler. All rooms have an oversized work desk, two dual-line telephones with data port and voicemail,and state-of-the-art electronic key security system.

Despite efforts to cater to to a certain business clientele, the hotel was synonymous with sleaze. Police were frequently summoned to the hotel for drug and prostitution related offenses. In the May 7, 2008 edition of the Sun-Times the paper notes that the hotel relied on conventions such as the Midwest Fetish Fair & Marketplace for business. The hotel is split into three separate towers and management knowingly tried to segregate known sex parties from the rest of the hotel guests. One news clipping from as far back as 1989 mentions Opposite Sex, Inc. giving several “Meet, Match, Mate” seminars at the hotel.

Village Resorts President Donald Bae positioned Stefanie Bae as hotel manager. In 2005 Stefanie wrote a ringer review for the hotel on the Yahoo! Travel page.

The Purple Hotel had the most friendliest and helpful staff. The food was amazing….and They have a Sunday Brunch that is to DIE for. The rooms were very clean and cozy, excellent value for your money. It is close to everything and they have a sandvolleyball court!!! They have the best steaks in the world!

Grammar and punctuation errors aside, Stefanie may have had a prophetic moment when using the past tense in claiming the “Purple Hotel had the most friendliest and helpful staff.” Acting on complaints by guests, health officials descended upon the hotel in 2006. The inspection led to the discovery of over thirty violations that included a leaking roof, garbage disposal issues, and a failure to exterminate insects and rodents. Of the 293 total guest rooms at the hotel, inspectors sampled 225 for mold. The results did not bode well for Donald Bae as mold was discovered in 208 of these rooms (92.4% of the sample). In September the same year the village of Lincolnwood sued hotel management for failing to fix the myriad of citations. The judge agreed with the village of Lincolnwood and ordered Bae to fix the problems by December. Unable to cover the cost of renovation Bae opted not to fix the issues and in January 2007 a judge ordered the hotel to close. The “most friendliest and helpful staff” suddenly found themselves unemployed.

Photo: The indoor pool is now filled with furniture, glass shards, and dead plants.

Bae attempted to sell the 8.5 acre property in 2008 for the sum of $27 million, but the deal fell through as the real estate market tanked with the economy. In November, 2009 Bae tapped ForeFront Properties LLC to move the site along with two shuttered adjacent commercial properties for $25.8 million. As the property spent months on the real estate market it deteriorated even further. Rather than wait around for Bae on the busy corner of Touhy and North Lincoln Avenue , village officials again took to the courts. If the building is not brought up to code by August 1, 2011 the village has won the right to demolish the purple blemish on their map. The court ruling in Lincolnwood’s favor sticks Bae with the bill for demolition costs. To make matters worse Midwest Bank filed for foreclosure on the property as a $4.2 million loan taken out by Bae has fallen into default. In any case, it looks as though the days for The Purple Hotel are finally numbered.

Photo: One of the hotel rooms with mold growing behind the wallpaper.

Photo: Welcome letter from hotel manager Stefanie Bae.

Photo: Main and lower level maps.

Resources:

ABC – 2007 article that mentions the murder of Oscar Gerber at the hotel.

Chicago Real Estate Daily – 2010 article on Lincolnwood filing a lawsuit agains the Purple Hotel owner.

Chicago Real Estate Daily – 2011 article on the $4.2 million lawsuit filed against the Purple Hotel owner.

Chicago Tribune – 1989 “Meet, Match, Mate” seminars at the hotel.

Chicago Tribune – 2007 article on the closing of the Purple Hotel.

CityNoise – A walk around photo gallery of the abandoned hotel.

Global Traveler Blog – Claims the purple bricks were a mistake.

Google News – 1983 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article on the Dorfman killing.

Google News – 1983 Pittsburgh Press article on mob ties to Dorfman killing.

Hotel Planner – Has description of hotel services.

Flickr – Martin Gonzalez’ impressive Purple Hotel set.

Flickr – My photo set of The Purple Hotel.

Skokie Patch – Summarizes history of the hotel and redevelopment efforts.

Sun Times – 2011 article that puts an August 1 demolition date on the hotel unless health code violations are fixed.

Yahoo! Travel – Reviews by guests of the Purple Hotel.

Wikipedia – Lincolnwood entry has a bit of Purple Hotel history.

Wikipedia – Allen Dorfman was killed in the parking lot. The crime remains unsolved.

Foreclosed Hotel

Normally when I go to an urbex location it has been abandoned for quite some time. This definitely was not the case this time around. This hotel was foreclosed upon sometime in early 2010. From the looks of it, the employer ran out of time to remove their property. The pool was still half full of water. Networking equipment sat behind the front desk. The bar still had beer, juice, and other foodstuffs behind it. Despite being right next to a major highway the hotel is not easy to get to from the nearest exit. The nightly logbook indicates that even on weekends the hotel only had 3-4 check-ins. Employees recorded their malaise dealing with sheer boredom.

If the United States economic woes continue unabated I have no doubt that this will not be my last urbex adventure in a foreclosed property.

Photo: Keys to the conference rooms.

Photo: The view from the lobby. Photo taken by Nick Forslund.

Photo: One of the undisturbed rooms. It is good to see that vandals or copper thieves have not made their way through the building. Photo by bitter_buffalo33.

Photo: Despite the extreme cold the pool area remains quite humid.

Photo: The whirlpool was completely empty.

Photo: The basement refrigeration doors were made of wood. Photo by Nick Forslund.

Photo: The damp basement provides the perfect environment for mold to thrive. Photo by Nick Forslund.

Murphy Building in East St. Louis

The Murphy Building stands within a stonesthrow of the Spivey Building. If you look closely in top photo above, you can see vegetation growing in the brickwork. Getting up to the higher floors now requires an explorer to exit a second story window and walk up a rickety steel fire escape, as the main stairwell has crumbled into the ground floor. I did not have the stomach climbing out onto the fire escape.

MURPHY BLDG.

As you can see from this photo the Murphy Building has a beautifully adorned entrance. Vandals have already taken some of the mason work from the higher floor. There isn’t much that remains inside from the time the building was in operation. It is easily accessible, though you will need a flashlight to navigate your way through the basement as no sunlight shines in. The beauty shop, which must have been open for business after the main Murphy Building closed, is accessible through this way.

Research Links:

Built St. Louis – Murphy Building Photos

Ecology of Absence – Murphy Building

Panoramino – The Majestic Theater and Murphy Building

Flickr Group – East St. Louis

Flickr Search – Murphy Building

Spivey Building in East St. Louis

Whenever you mention that your driving into St. Louis, Missouri people reflexively joke, “Don’t get off the highway too early. You don’t want to end up in East St. Louis.” My natural response is “Why?” The answer people give to that question is that the city is riddled with crime, it looks dirty and there is a good chance you’ll get shot. I then ask if they have ever actually set foot in East St. Louis and predictably the answer is “no.”

If you take 55 into St. Louis, Missouri you have to pass through East St. Louis, Illinois. Because the highway has to span the mighty Mississippi River it goes up quite high. On the road the most notable structure in East St. Louis is a lone 13-story building towering over all the rest. This is the Spivey Building, which in many ways embodies the history of East St. Louis.

Allen Spivey constructed the building in 1929 that bears his name. The Spivey Building was meant to be a symbol of prosperity in the growing wealthy city of East St. Louis. At the time the location was prime real estate. It was located in the very heart of downtown, stood next to a theater, and was a short distance away from all the major shopping venues. Jobs in East St. Louis were plentiful, cars were beginning to fill the streets, and East St. Louis was home to about 75,000 people with money to spend. The city would peak at just over 82,000 residents according to 1940 census data.

Despite Spivey’s high expectations for East St. Louis, the tides of fortune took a turn for the worse. A combination of of racial tensions in the mid-1900’s, white flight, corrupt politicians, manipulative corporations and dwindling tax base turned East St. Louis into what it is today. The Spivey Building was caught in the middle of it all.

The perimeter around the building is fairly secure. Sources who have been inside say that there isn’t much that remains. Vandals have long made off with anything of value. Talks of renovating the building have gone all but nowhere.

When I think of the Spivey Building, I cannot help but be reminded of Langston Hughes’ poem entitled “Dream Deferred.”

What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
Like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore–
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over–
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?

Research Links:

Ecology of Absence – The Spivey Building: The Death of a Dream?

Ecology of Absence – Spivey Building Secured, Damaged

STL Streets – Video inside the Spivey Building

Built St. Louis – Photos of the Spivey Building

Sketching St. Louis – Artistic rendition of the Spivey Building

Time – 1989 article on East St. Louis

Urban St. Louis – 2005 article about the building’s demolition

Emporis – Spivey Building

4th of July on top of Spivey

Wikipedia – East St. Louis