A multi-million dollar renovation will begin soon on a historic hotel in northern Iowa. The Park Inn Hotel was designed by legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright and is his only remaining hotel in the world. The structure will be restored to its original look from 1910 and will feature 28 suites.
Jean Marinos is president of Wright on the Park and says the project will be launching late next month. Marinos says construction is slated to start around October 26th so residents will see lots of contractors’ trailers and work underway in the downtown. “It’s going to be an exciting part of our community,” she says.
Once construction begins, the area will get cluttered and become something of a hassle for traffic, but Marinos says the temporary troubles will be worth it with the restoration of the building. She says there will be a couple of months that construction trucks will clog up portions of the downtown area, but adds, “this is going to be a marvelous addition to our community and the downtown.”
Marinos says the Park Inn is already getting requests for events, including wedding receptions and conferences, to be scheduled in the building once it’s complete. The Mason City City Council took a tour of the Park Inn Hotel this week as part of a workshop session to look at the current condition of the structure before bids are let on the program. The project is expected to cost 18-million dollars.
Submitted by Bob Fisher, KRIB, Mason City