New Redmond Hotel
Encyclopedia
The New Redmond Hotel is a historic commercial hotel in Redmond
, Oregon
, United States. The hotel was built in 1928 after the original Redmond Hotel, (sometimes referred to as "Hotel Redmond") was destroyed in a fire. It is a three-story Georgian-style brick masonry building located on 6th Street in downtown Redmond. It has been in continuous use as a commercial hotel since it first opened. Today, the New Redmond Hotel is a major landmark in downtown Redmond. Because of its importance to the history of Redmond, the New Redmond Hotel is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
.
selling supplies to miners during the Klondike gold rush
. Once in Redmond, they became active community boosters, organizing a businessmen’s group that meet weekly to discuss civic affairs. In 1911 the hotel made the papers, and again in 1914, when the Jones Land Company was excavating for a septic tank in the rear of the hotel. The workmen had dug 19 feet through solid rock and drilled an additional 10 more feet before setting dynamite. The explosion of the dynamite was anticlimactic after a dull sound followed and cold, heavy-pressured air issued out. It was assumed a subterranean cavern was punctured and that it would make for a suitable septic tank. The discovery made the local papers and Hotel Oregon across the street wanted to locate their own subterranean cavern and eventually did. By 1914, the piping in the Redmond Hotel became clogged after use of the outlet increased. Another hole was drilled in the hotel and larger piping installed. The new setup was found to be adequate for disposal.
Construction of the New Redmond Hotel began on 17 June 1927. In the building’s cornerstone
community leaders place a time capsule
containing coins
, photographs, newspapers with reports of the recent hotel fire, and other community related documents. The new hotel cost approximately $150,000 to build. When it was completed, the hotel had 43000 square feet (3,994.8 m²) of interior space. The hotel’s grand opening was held on 27 July 1928. The event included tours of the new hotel, a banquet with 350 guests, and a community dance. A meeting of the Central Oregon Jersey Breeders was held in conjunction with the grand opening. The hotel’s early advertisements boosted that the New Redmond Hotel provided the best lodging and service east of the Cascade Mountains at the lowest possible prices, only $1 to $2.50 per day.
The New Redmond Hotel quickly became a popular social center for the growing Redmond community as well as a well known lodging stop for travelers passing through Central Oregon
. The primary function of the building has always been a hotel. However, the hotel lobby served as the home for the local Chamber of Commerce
for a time, and as the Redmond bus station since it was conveniently located on Highway 97
which followed 6th Street though town. Today, the hotel remains one of the largest and best known buildings in the city of Redmond. It is also one of the few surviving examples of early 20th century Georgian architecture in Central Oregon. Because of its importance to Redmond history and its distinctive Georgian architecture, the New Redmond Hotel was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on 28 October 1980. In 1993, the hotel was extensively remodeled, modernizing the structure while maintaining the building's historic character.
On the first floor, there are six commercial store fronts with large display windows, three facing 6th Street and three facing West Evergreen Avenue. The display windows are separated by wide brick pillars. Above the display windows are glass transom
windows. The hotel entrance faces 6th Street. The entrance is marked by a large round archway
with flanking bay windows. The upper stories of the building are faced with brick. The second and third floors both have fifteen casement windows facing 6th Street and eight facing Evergreen Avenue. On the third floor, window size alternates between large and small size across the facade
. There is a ninth window bay on the Evergreen Avenue side of the building that does not have a window on either upper floor. The hotel’s interior fire escape
stairwell is behind that bay. Above the entrance extending out toward the street is a vertical marquee
announcing the name of the hotel. The sign rises above the rounded cornice
that tops the third floor above the hotel entrance. It is 45 feet (13.7 m) from the sidewalk in front of the entrance to the top of the cornice, making the hotel the tallest building in Redmond.
. The lobby is furnished with a mixture of antiques and modern furniture pieces. The floor in the lobby is fir
covered with black and white linoleum
squares, laid out in a checkerboard pattern. The lobby carpet is patterned after an oriental rug. The banquet room has hardwood floors.
An elevator, installed in the 1940s, takes guests to the upper floors. The number of hotel rooms has varied over the years. In 1980, when this building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, there were 29 overnight rooms and 28 longer-term apartment rooms plus two executive suites, one known as the Governor’s Suite. The rooms have high ceilings and tall windows with the hotel’s original woodwork still in place. The hotels heating and cooling plants are located in the basement.
Redmond, Oregon
Redmond is a city in Deschutes County, Oregon, United States. Incorporated on July 6, 1910, the city is located on the eastern side of Oregon's Cascade Range, in the High Desert, and is considered the geographical heart of Central Oregon...
, Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
, United States. The hotel was built in 1928 after the original Redmond Hotel, (sometimes referred to as "Hotel Redmond") was destroyed in a fire. It is a three-story Georgian-style brick masonry building located on 6th Street in downtown Redmond. It has been in continuous use as a commercial hotel since it first opened. Today, the New Redmond Hotel is a major landmark in downtown Redmond. Because of its importance to the history of Redmond, the New Redmond Hotel is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
.
Old hotel
The original two-story Redmond Hotel was built in 1906 by William and Fanny Wilson. The Wilson’s arrived in Redmond in 1905 after making a modest fortune in AlaskaAlaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
selling supplies to miners during the Klondike gold rush
Klondike Gold Rush
The Klondike Gold Rush, also called the Yukon Gold Rush, the Alaska Gold Rush and the Last Great Gold Rush, was an attempt by an estimated 100,000 people to travel to the Klondike region the Yukon in north-western Canada between 1897 and 1899 in the hope of successfully prospecting for gold...
. Once in Redmond, they became active community boosters, organizing a businessmen’s group that meet weekly to discuss civic affairs. In 1911 the hotel made the papers, and again in 1914, when the Jones Land Company was excavating for a septic tank in the rear of the hotel. The workmen had dug 19 feet through solid rock and drilled an additional 10 more feet before setting dynamite. The explosion of the dynamite was anticlimactic after a dull sound followed and cold, heavy-pressured air issued out. It was assumed a subterranean cavern was punctured and that it would make for a suitable septic tank. The discovery made the local papers and Hotel Oregon across the street wanted to locate their own subterranean cavern and eventually did. By 1914, the piping in the Redmond Hotel became clogged after use of the outlet increased. Another hole was drilled in the hotel and larger piping installed. The new setup was found to be adequate for disposal.
New hotel
In June 1927, the original wood-frame hotel burned to the ground. However, the Wilson’s quickly replaced the original hotel with a new one.Construction of the New Redmond Hotel began on 17 June 1927. In the building’s cornerstone
Cornerstone
The cornerstone concept is derived from the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation, important since all other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure.Over time a cornerstone became a ceremonial masonry stone, or...
community leaders place a time capsule
Time capsule
A time capsule is an historic cache of goods or information, usually intended as a method of communication with future people and to help future archaeologists, anthropologists, or historians...
containing coins
COinS
ContextObjects in Spans, commonly abbreviated COinS, is a method to embed bibliographic metadata in the HTML code of web pages. This allows bibliographic software to publish machine-readable bibliographic items and client reference management software to retrieve bibliographic metadata. The...
, photographs, newspapers with reports of the recent hotel fire, and other community related documents. The new hotel cost approximately $150,000 to build. When it was completed, the hotel had 43000 square feet (3,994.8 m²) of interior space. The hotel’s grand opening was held on 27 July 1928. The event included tours of the new hotel, a banquet with 350 guests, and a community dance. A meeting of the Central Oregon Jersey Breeders was held in conjunction with the grand opening. The hotel’s early advertisements boosted that the New Redmond Hotel provided the best lodging and service east of the Cascade Mountains at the lowest possible prices, only $1 to $2.50 per day.
The New Redmond Hotel quickly became a popular social center for the growing Redmond community as well as a well known lodging stop for travelers passing through Central Oregon
Central Oregon
Central Oregon is a geographic region in the U.S. state of Oregon and is traditionally considered to be made up of Deschutes, Jefferson, and Crook counties. Other definitions include larger areas, often encompassing areas to the north towards the Columbia River, eastward towards Burns, or south...
. The primary function of the building has always been a hotel. However, the hotel lobby served as the home for the local Chamber of Commerce
Chamber of commerce
A chamber of commerce is a form of business network, e.g., a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to advocate on behalf of the business community...
for a time, and as the Redmond bus station since it was conveniently located on Highway 97
U.S. Route 97
U.S. Route 97 is a major north–south United States highway in the western United States. It begins at a junction with Interstate 5 at Weed, California, and travels north, ending in Okanogan County, Washington, at the Canadian Border, across from Osoyoos, British Columbia, becoming British...
which followed 6th Street though town. Today, the hotel remains one of the largest and best known buildings in the city of Redmond. It is also one of the few surviving examples of early 20th century Georgian architecture in Central Oregon. Because of its importance to Redmond history and its distinctive Georgian architecture, the New Redmond Hotel was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on 28 October 1980. In 1993, the hotel was extensively remodeled, modernizing the structure while maintaining the building's historic character.
Structure
The New Redmond Hotel is located on the southwest corner of 6th Street and West Evergreen Avenue in downtown Redmond. It is a three-story brick masonry building with a footprint of 150 feet (45.7 m) by 100 feet (30.5 m). The hotel is a good example of Georgian-style architecture. It was designed by Bend architect, Hugh Thompson. The building was constructed by a local contracting firm led by Ole K. Olson and his partner S. Elmer Erickson. Another general contractor, Fred N. VanMatre, also helped with the construction.On the first floor, there are six commercial store fronts with large display windows, three facing 6th Street and three facing West Evergreen Avenue. The display windows are separated by wide brick pillars. Above the display windows are glass transom
Transom (architectural)
In architecture, a transom is the term given to a transverse beam or bar in a frame, or to the crosspiece separating a door or the like from a window or fanlight above it. Transom is also the customary U.S. word used for a transom light, the window over this crosspiece...
windows. The hotel entrance faces 6th Street. The entrance is marked by a large round archway
Arch
An arch is a structure that spans a space and supports a load. Arches appeared as early as the 2nd millennium BC in Mesopotamian brick architecture and their systematic use started with the Ancient Romans who were the first to apply the technique to a wide range of structures.-Technical aspects:The...
with flanking bay windows. The upper stories of the building are faced with brick. The second and third floors both have fifteen casement windows facing 6th Street and eight facing Evergreen Avenue. On the third floor, window size alternates between large and small size across the facade
Facade
A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
. There is a ninth window bay on the Evergreen Avenue side of the building that does not have a window on either upper floor. The hotel’s interior fire escape
Fire escape
A fire escape is a special kind of emergency exit, usually mounted to the outside of a building or occasionally inside but separate from the main areas of the building. It provides a method of escape in the event of a fire or other emergency that makes the stairwells inside a building inaccessible...
stairwell is behind that bay. Above the entrance extending out toward the street is a vertical marquee
Marquee (sign)
A marquee is most commonly a structure placed over the entrance to a hotel or theatre. It has signage stating either the name of the establishment or, in the case of theatres, the play or movie and the artist appearing at that venue...
announcing the name of the hotel. The sign rises above the rounded cornice
Cornice
Cornice molding is generally any horizontal decorative molding that crowns any building or furniture element: the cornice over a door or window, for instance, or the cornice around the edge of a pedestal. A simple cornice may be formed just with a crown molding.The function of the projecting...
that tops the third floor above the hotel entrance. It is 45 feet (13.7 m) from the sidewalk in front of the entrance to the top of the cornice, making the hotel the tallest building in Redmond.
Interior
The main public spaces inside the hotel are the main lobby and banquet room. Both the lobby and dining room have high beam ceilings with square side-columns crowned by Corinthian capitals. The focal point of the hotel lobby is a large stone-faced fireplaceFireplace
A fireplace is an architectural structure to contain a fire for heating and, especially historically, for cooking. A fire is contained in a firebox or firepit; a chimney or other flue allows gas and particulate exhaust to escape...
. The lobby is furnished with a mixture of antiques and modern furniture pieces. The floor in the lobby is fir
Fir
Firs are a genus of 48–55 species of evergreen conifers in the family Pinaceae. They are found through much of North and Central America, Europe, Asia, and North Africa, occurring in mountains over most of the range...
covered with black and white linoleum
Linoleum
Linoleum is a floor covering made from renewable materials such as solidified linseed oil , pine rosin, ground cork dust, wood flour, and mineral fillers such as calcium carbonate, most commonly on a burlap or canvas backing; pigments are often added to the materials.The finest linoleum floors,...
squares, laid out in a checkerboard pattern. The lobby carpet is patterned after an oriental rug. The banquet room has hardwood floors.
An elevator, installed in the 1940s, takes guests to the upper floors. The number of hotel rooms has varied over the years. In 1980, when this building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, there were 29 overnight rooms and 28 longer-term apartment rooms plus two executive suites, one known as the Governor’s Suite. The rooms have high ceilings and tall windows with the hotel’s original woodwork still in place. The hotels heating and cooling plants are located in the basement.