This just attempts to get a Skirvin Hotel thread started again, the much earlier one having gotten zapped by some very very bad person who destroyed the whole former UrbanOK forum. I can't begin to recreate the numerous posts in the original Skirvin thread, but maybe this will help a little. What follows is a recreation of a post in my blog, totally reposted here, but with a couple of pics I took today thrown in to show progress on the exterior's moulding, at the end. Nothing else original ...

The Skirvin Hilton



ORIGINS

William Balser "Bill" Skirvin, a Michigan native, made the Run of 1889 but then moved to Texas where he made a fortune in land development and oil. In 1906 he and his family, including his oldest daughter Perle (who later would become Perle Mesta, the Washington and international "Hostess With the Mostest" and about whom a Broadway musical and movie, Call Me Madam, were made ... but that's another story), moved to Oklahoma City. In 1910, Skirvin decided to build a fine hotel on property he owned at 1st (Park Avenue) and Broadway, and he joined forces with Solomon A. Layton who designed the state capitol building. The original plans called for 6 stories, but, according to Skirvin's daughter, Pearl (ed note: sic - should be Perle) Mesta, the archetect persuaded Mr. Skirvin to expand it to 10 stores. The 225 rooms and suites Skirvin Hotel opened on September 26, 1911. See Bob Blackburn's excellent article for much more detail.

Postcard Showing the 1911 Exterior & The Original Lobby


In Bob Blackburn's article, we read,

EXPANSION AND DECLINE

A 1926 expansion added new wing of 12 stories to the existing two wings with 10 stories. But, the economy was going great and a final expansion was completed in April 1930 raised all wings to 14 floors and with a capacity of 525 rooms and suites, as well as numerous other changes and and added amenities.

Construction in the 1920s & the Final 1930 Product


The 1930 Coffee Shop & Venitian Room


Bill Skirvin continued to own the hotel until 1945 when he sold the Skirvin (and its across the street cousin, the Skirvin Tower) to Dan W. James, owner of the Black Hotel and, over a 10 year plan, James invested considerable resources in improving the services and quality which had apparently declined during World War II. Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower were guests in 1948. James added a pool in 1959.

Beginning with James' 1963 sale to Chicago investors, the property changed hands a few times during the difficult downtown days of Oklahoma City ... during the Urban Renewal phase, suburban malls, oil bust, etc. Although Bob Blackburn's article is much more thorough about this topic and ends on an optimistic note at the time his article was written (1982), the apparent rejuvenation and optimism then present did not persist. The Skirvin's doors were closed in 1989 and have not since reopened.

REBIRTH

The Skirvin was acquired by the City of Oklahoma City in 2002. From the City of Oklahoma City's website,

The Skirvin Partners joined forces with Marcus Hotels and Resorts, a Wisconsin company, to restore and eventually manage The Skirvin Hilton. According to the Marcus Hotels & Resorts website, the Skirvin Hilton will open in March 2007, just 6-7 months from the time this article is written. From that website and from the Skirvin Hilton website come the following drawings (click on an image for a larger pic):





The guest rooms and suites will apparently be larger ... the 1930 configuration contained 525 rooms and suites but, according to the Marcus Hotels' website, "The newly renovated hotel will open in March 2007, unveiling 225 guestrooms, including 20 suites and one Presidential suite." It will also include 22,000 square feet of meeting and pre-function space, a "destination lounge and signature restaurant", flat panel high-definition televisions, wired and wireless high speed Internet access, a fitness center & swimming pool, a "Hilton Honors lounge", and a business center. The City's website puts the guest room/suite count at 235.

AUGUST 19 PROGRESS

On Saturday, 8/19/2006, I took a few pics to see how it was coming. Here are a few ... notice the close-ups of exterior moulding, sometimes deteriorated, but racks of new replacement moulding being used when needed appear on the sidewalk. Click a pic for a larger image.

South Side Moulding Previously Hidden by a Facade


Replacement Moulding


Windows & Moulding


North Side


North Side Courtyard and Entry


If that's not enough, another 10 pics are at my Photobucket pics.

What a great day it will be, hopefully in March 2007, to remember Bill Skirvin's contribution to this city, and to congratulate our city leaders, and ourselves, for the fine thing we will have done that day! "We?", you say? Yep ... all residents of Oklahoma City will have had a large or a small hand in making this happen vis a vis our City's government. We can rightly call the Skirvin, "our" hotel!
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9/6/06 Addendum To My Blog's Post

After work today, I took a couple of "progress" pics of the south side moulding ... and if you compare these pics with those posted in my 8/19/06 images, you can see the differences ... at 5:30 pm or so, when the following pics were taken, gobs of workers were at the end of their work day, looking forward to a restful night ... and it is apparent that scores of workers have been arduously doing their jobs ... click a pic for a larger image ...



From the fury of workers and progress I have observed at the Skirvin site, today and earlier, I'm pumped up! The Skirvin is REALLY on its way back, better than ever! Of course, I'm saying this form the perspective of an Oklahoma City junkie! I've had memorable nights in the Skirvin before it closed, and I can't wait to do so again after this Oklahoma City landmark is given a new birth in 2007, the year of Oklahoma's Centennial celebration!

In my estimation, the reopening of the Skirvin in 2007 will be one of the premier Oklahoma Centennial events! The past becomes present and is alive once again. Sorry for the sentiment, but that's where this oldie OKC guy is from and is at! Feel free to disagree, or to join in the celebration! But, either way, the Skirvin rebirth IS REAL! Yea!

I do love my town! Born here in the much older St. Anthony's in 1943 and living here permanently since 1970, there is no other place that I'd want to be. So, feel free to color my remarks with the subjective sentiment to which they rightly deserve, and I'll take no offense.

Oh my goodness Doug, this is a wonderful thread you've been working on for a while now. The Skirvin is a very complex topic that has been covered so vividly here. It's been tried to renovate it before, but never as successfully or as boldly as this current attempt. The Hilton chain, which has always been nice, has been improving its image lately with spectacular downtown hotels: a jungle of a hotel in the heart of downtown Houston, and now the renovation of Oklahoma City's grandest historic relic and transformation into full-service hotel.

Construction has been going well, there were contract issues which have been long-resolved, and in April there was a bird fesces problem (the bird poop was so extensive on the top of the building that construction was shut down for an entire week to get it back down to levels that were not health-prohibitive). But it's chugging along, and anyone who works downtown can easily start up a conversation with a fellow downtowner like, "So Bill, have you noticed the latest Skirvin progress? They're really making that facade brick look nice today!"

I took some photos most recently in April, and then previously in December, all of those part of much larger photo threads that will be reassembled for your viewing.

You are quite right, Spartan, that bird (more particularly, pidgeon) shit has been a serious workaround ... not just lately but much earlier. When my own office building (Court Plaza) was having some conservation (fix it before it gets too broken to fix) work done on it by Flintco people (the company that's doing most of the Skirvin work), I was on Kerr smoking my usual multiple cigarettes and I inquired of one of the "scaffolding" guys about what they were doing, and one thing led to another. I learned from him that shit-loads of pidgeon crap, early on, was one of the slow-downs, because, on the top of the Skirvin, it was mucho deep. I don't remember "how" deep, but, as I recall, fisherman's "waders" might have been in order ... and, at the least, you'd not have wanted to take a walk up there, I am sure. The pidgeon problem apparently persisted past that point in time, as you've noted.

Wow. Downtown development is normally held up by high wind, wet conditions, financing fell through... not bird "fesces" (as Spartan chose to call it).

Most recent progress:

New windows. Look fabulous, and now you can really see the renovation from the outside. I think the new windows have made more differance than anything else so far.

I pass by the Skirvin as many as three times each week on the morning jog, and it has been really wonderful to see the progress day by day. One of the most exciting phases for me has been the replacement of the cast stone detials around the windows and the horizontal band at the first floor over the past couple of months.

I have also spoken with the workers from time to time and complimented them on their craftsmanship and they are not reluctant to announce that they are very proud to be working on this project, very proud. The quality of the restoration is first class and a tribute to the owners, architects, contractor and most importantly to the people pouring their energy. effort and sweat into this building day by day. There are no finer craftsmen in nearly every trade anywhere than those to be found right here in Oklahoma.

I couldn't agree more Doug, and I'll be delighted to buy the first round at the Skirvin bar in 2007. Somewhere around the Ides of March perhaps? Considering all of the "openings" we will see next year, 2007 will be just as much a leap forward as a celebration of the past.

An interesting bit of local trivia, is that Michel Buthion, one of the owners of La Baguette Bistro, who, along with his brother & chef, Alain, is putting in the restaurant and club at The Colcord, was at one time the manager of the Skirvin restaurant.

One of the Buthion brothers owns the place on West Main in Norman, where I try to stop by every other morning or so. Real nice guy, and the West Main location probably has the best cheesecake.