Dixie Walesbilt Hotel
Encyclopedia
The Dixie Walesbilt Hotel (also known as the Grand Hotel) is a historic hotel
in Lake Wales
, Florida
, United States
located at 115 North 1st Street. The Walesbilt Hotel was renamed the Grand by a New York owner during the 1980s. The structure was built in 1926 after a stock-sale campaign in the local business community. It opened in January 1927, two years before Edward Bok's famous Bok Tower
was completed nearby. In 1995 it was sold at auction and closed, then the interior was partially dismantled for reconstruction, which was never completed. In February of 2010, a redevelopment agreement was proposed between the City of Lake Wales and a private sector developer to return the hotel to its original finishes and repurpose the building as residential units and 17000 square feet (1,579.4 m²) of commercial space.
The interior of the building is even more ornate than the exterior, featuring shopping arcades, Italian-made ceilings and column capitals, marble and wrought iron, a central atrium, etc. Construction is of steel-reinforced poured concrete in post-and-beam method, without bearing walls. It suffered only superficial damage during the hurricanes of 2004. On August 31, 1990 it was added to the U.S.
National Register of Historic Places
.
Hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...
in Lake Wales
Lake Wales, Florida
Lake Wales is a city in Polk County, Florida, United States. The population was 10,194 at the 2000 census. As of 2004, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 11,802 . It is part of the Lakeland–Winter Haven Metropolitan Statistical Area...
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
located at 115 North 1st Street. The Walesbilt Hotel was renamed the Grand by a New York owner during the 1980s. The structure was built in 1926 after a stock-sale campaign in the local business community. It opened in January 1927, two years before Edward Bok's famous Bok Tower
BOK Tower
BOK Tower, formerly One Williams Center, is a skyscraper in downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma. At 203 m in height, the 52-story tower was the tallest building in any of the five "Plains States": Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota, as well as the surrounding states of Missouri,...
was completed nearby. In 1995 it was sold at auction and closed, then the interior was partially dismantled for reconstruction, which was never completed. In February of 2010, a redevelopment agreement was proposed between the City of Lake Wales and a private sector developer to return the hotel to its original finishes and repurpose the building as residential units and 17000 square feet (1,579.4 m²) of commercial space.
The interior of the building is even more ornate than the exterior, featuring shopping arcades, Italian-made ceilings and column capitals, marble and wrought iron, a central atrium, etc. Construction is of steel-reinforced poured concrete in post-and-beam method, without bearing walls. It suffered only superficial damage during the hurricanes of 2004. On August 31, 1990 it was added to the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
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...
.
External links
- Polk County listings, Florida's Office of Cultural and Historical Programs