SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) - After decades of failed attempts, work has begun on a $73 million project to restore a once elegant but long abandoned hotel in Sioux City.
Developer Lew Weinberg and real estate company Restoration St. Louis are working to restore the Warrior Hotel. The hotel was built in 1930 and closed in 1976, The Sioux City Journal reported.
The adjacent Davidson Building is also being remodeled, and the two sites are slated to be turned into a Marriott hotel, luxury apartments and retail spaces. The hotel will feature a ballroom, spa, pool, business center, exercise center and a bowling alley.
“Architects are having a lot of fun with it, because the building’s built like a wedding cake,” said Amy Gill, one of the owners of Restoration St. Louis, which specializes in historic restorations. “Most hotels you strive for uniformity. In this building, uniformity just kind of got thrown out the window.”
Gill and her husband, Amrit Gill, are researching the hotel’s Art Deco design, with the goal of depicting some of the building’s original style in some areas while also adding modern amenities.
“On the outside of the building are these terra cotta pieces and they have goldfinches, which is the state bird of Iowa,” Amy Gill said. “It’ll give it a natural feel and also be kind of a homage to Iowa. I think it’s really fun.”
The Iowa Economic Development Authority gave the project more than $11 million in historic preservation tax credits. The project could also receive an additional $5 million in the state’s next budget year.
Work is expected to be completed in 2020.
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Information from: Sioux City Journal, http://www.siouxcityjournal.com
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