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Hotel Elkhart Wins Top Preservation Prize
Transformation of Elkhart’s 1920s hotel merits Indiana Landmarks’ 2024 Cook Cup for Outstanding Restoration
Staying Power
In the early twentieth century, Hotel Elkhart proudly billed itself as “Northern Indiana’s Finest Hotel.” Fast forward nearly a century, and the landmark can claim the title once again, following a $19 million restoration by 500 Main, LLC. The transformation earned Indiana Landmarks’ 2024 Cook Cup for Outstanding Restoration, recognizing the project’s significant investment and impact on downtown Elkhart.
Though the city’s population was less than half its current size when Hotel Elkhart was built in 1923, the hotel remains the tallest downtown building, speaking to the community’s bold vision and hopes for the commerce the hotel would attract. The Elkhart Chamber of Commerce led efforts to construct the original 117-room hotel, as well as an addition in 1928 that nearly doubled it in size and included the Athenian Ballroom, an elegant venue for meetings, reunions, and receptions.
Hotel Elkhart accommodated many celebrities over the years including Bob Hope, Ed Sullivan, and Audie Murphy; it even served as the backdrop for Robert Kennedy’s 1968 presidential campaign. In the early 1970s, declining business prompted the hotel’s conversion to senior housing, and decades later, the building was a public safety concern. Multiple apartments had been condemned due to meth lab activity, the sprinkler system was nearly 50 years old, and an active water leak left a 30-foot hole in the ballroom’s plaster ceiling.
In October 2017, with renewed interest in revamping the core of downtown, Cressy Commercial Real Estate and Mno-Bmadsen, the non-gaming investment arm of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, joined forces as 500 Main, LLC to undertake a complete renovation of all 115,000 square feet of the historic hotel. The project created 93 guest rooms, two restaurants, a ballroom, meeting space, a rooftop bar, fitness rooms, and commercial laundry facilities, all meeting rigorous brand standards to become part of Hilton Hotels’ Tapestry Collection. Mechanical improvements include new elevators, electrical, plumbing, HVAC, and sprinkler systems.
Though many historic details were lost from earlier renovations, several others were uncovered and refurbished, including a marble staircase, terrazzo floors previously covered with carpet, and plaster cove detailing formerly hidden by a drop ceiling. Most dramatically, full-height windows in the ballroom were installed to replace spandrel glass added in the 1970s.
“We knew that the hotel’s history and architecture was what made it unique. Preserving that made the project more difficult but also made it special,” says Dan Boecher, project manager. “Part of why we wanted to take this on was to offer something you’re not going to find everywhere.”
Inside, Cornerstone Hospitality took inspiration from Elkhart’s heritage, using musical terms to name meeting spaces in a nod to the city’s history of manufacturing music instruments and hosting jazz festivals.
The project received financial support from the City of Elkhart, the state’s Regional Cities Program, the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs, Federal Historic Tax Credits, traditional financing, and developer equity.
Since opening in September 2021, Hotel Elkhart’s impact on downtown has been dramatic, drawing thousands of overnight guests to support local restaurants, bars, and shops, and inspiring 18 new businesses within walking distance.
Just down the street, the Lerner Theatre benefits from having a place for its patrons and performers to overnight, broadening its ability to attract top-quality acts. “There had not been a hotel in downtown Elkhart for over 50 years,” says Eddie Bradley, principal of Cressy Commercial Real Estate. “You can imagine the ripple effect of what it meant to the community and downtown in particular to have something drawing people to the urban center.”
“Bringing back old buildings in downtown communities makes a difference to not only the community embracing it but also people looking to experience history in a different way,” says Kimberly Christner, Cornerstone Hospitality president and CEO. “When you develop buildings in a way that preserves the historic values they provide, guests and everyone who enters them gain a greater appreciation for them.”
“It’s become what we hoped it would always be, a new foundation and nerve center of downtown,” adds Bradley.
This article first appeared in the July/August 2024 issue of Indiana Preservation, Indiana Landmarks’ member magazine. Learn more and subscribe.
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