Alexander Inn

Last updated

The Alexander Inn
USA Tennessee location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location Oak Ridge, Tennessee
Coordinates 36°01′44″N84°14′31″W / 36.0289°N 84.2419°W / 36.0289; -84.2419
Built1943
Part of Oak Ridge Historic District (ID91001109)
Designated CP1993
J. Robert Oppenheimer in the Guest House in 1946; photograph by Ed Westcott J. Robert Oppenheimer at the Guest Lodge, Oak Ridge, in 1946 4.jpg
J. Robert Oppenheimer in the Guest House in 1946; photograph by Ed Westcott

The Alexander Inn, originally known as The Guest House, is a historic building in Oak Ridge, Tennessee that was built during the Manhattan Project to house official visitors and that later was used as a hotel. It is included on the National Register of Historic Places as a contributing property in a historic district.

Contents

History

The Guest House was built in 1943. A wood-framed building, similar to many other World War II period “H-plan” buildings, it served as guest quarters to a number of dignitaries during the top-secret Manhattan Project, including Enrico Fermi, Robert Oppenheimer and General Leslie Groves. In 1949, a 44-room addition was completed. The name was changed to the Alexander Inn in September 1950. The hotel was sold by the government to Mr. W. W. Faw for $34,000 in 1958. At that time, private bathrooms and a ballroom were added, and the kitchen was expanded.

The property was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1993 as a contributing property in the Oak Ridge Historic District. [1]

The Alexander Inn ceased operating as a hotel in the mid-1990s. Since that time the building had fallen into serious disrepair. On December 18, 2009, the Oak Ridge Revitalization Effort, a local nonprofit organization, announced that it had purchased the historic property. In March 2010, the East Tennessee Preservation Alliance listed the inn at the top of its first East Tennessee's Endangered Heritage list of endangered historic buildings and places in a 16-county region of East Tennessee. [2] The previous, no-interest mortgage of $353,700 expired on June 30, 2011, after that date the property was to revert to its former owner. The Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association (ORHPA), a group concerned with protecting the city's history, them began working with ORRE to develop a new non-profit organization that would focus entirely on restoring the Inn. [3]

The Alexander was for a while on the endangered list by East Tennessee Preservation Alliance. The Oak Ridge Industrial Development Board endorsed, and the Oak Ridge City Council approved, a 90 percent, 10-year tax break for the project to convert the hotel into Senior Living by a private developer.

In November 2015 the building re-opened as a senior living center, after an $8 million renovation via Dover Development. The facility offers memory-care and assisted-living housing.

The Alexander Inn and its grounds are central elements for the crime novel Bones of Betrayal by Jefferson Bass (the writing team of Jon Jefferson and Dr. William Bass), published in 2009 ( ISBN   978-0-06-128474-8, ISBN   0-06-128474-2). The book mentioned a below-ground pool that had been left abandoned, filled with water and debris, and was a hazard. Shortly after the book was published, this pool, which did exist prior to the building's conversion into an assisted living center, was drained and filled in with dirt.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Motel</span> Hotel catering to motorists

A motel, also known as a motor hotel, motor inn or motor lodge, is a hotel designed for motorists, usually having each room entered directly from the parking area for motor vehicles rather than through a central lobby. Entering dictionaries after World War II, the word motel, coined as a portmanteau of "motor hotel", originates from the Milestone Mo-Tel of San Luis Obispo, California, which was built in 1925. The term referred to a type of hotel consisting of a single building of connected rooms whose doors faced a parking lot and in some circumstances, a common area or a series of small cabins with common parking. Motels are often individually owned, though motel chains do exist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oak Ridge, Tennessee</span> City in Anderson and Roane counties in Tennessee, United States

Oak Ridge is a city in Anderson and Roane counties in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Tennessee, about 25 miles (40 km) west of downtown Knoxville. Oak Ridge's population was 31,402 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Knoxville Metropolitan Area. Oak Ridge's nicknames include the Atomic City, the Secret City, and the City Behind the Fence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oliver Springs, Tennessee</span> Town in Tennessee, United States

Oliver Springs is a town in Anderson, Morgan, and Roane counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee. Its population was 3,231 at the 2010 census. It is included in the Harriman, Tennessee Micropolitan Statistical Area, which consists of Roane County.

Miller's Department Store was a chain of department stores based in East Tennessee.

America's 11 Most Endangered Places or America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places is a list of places in the United States that the National Trust for Historic Preservation considers the most endangered. It aims to inspire Americans to preserve examples of architectural and cultural heritage that could be "relegated to the dustbins of history" without intervention.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hale Springs Inn</span> United States historic place

Hale Springs Inn, built in 1824 on the Courthouse Square in Rogersville, Tennessee, was the oldest continuously-operated Inn in Tennessee. It is listed as a contributing property of the Rogersville Historic District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Church, The Chapel on the Hill</span> Historic church in Tennessee, United States

The United Church, Chapel on the Hill in Oak Ridge, Tennessee was the city's main church during World War II. Dedicated on September 30, 1943, and completed late in October 1943, it was originally a multi-denominational chapel shared by Catholic, Protestant and Jewish congregations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Children's Museum of Oak Ridge</span> Childrens museum in Oak Ridge, Tennessee

The Children's Museum of Oak Ridge is a non-profit children's museum in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, United States, that provides museum exhibits and educational programs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luther Brannon House</span> Historic house in Tennessee, United States

The Luther Brannon House was a stone bungalow structure at 151 Oak Ridge Turnpike in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, United States, where it was one of the few buildings remaining from before World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Landmark Inn State Historic Site</span> United States historic place

The Landmark Inn State Historic Site is a historic inn in Castroville, Texas, United States. It serves the general public as both a state historic site and a bed & breakfast with eight overnight rooms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beaverkill Valley Inn</span> United States historic place

The Beaverkill Valley Inn, formerly known as The Bonnie View, is located off Beaverkill Road north of Lew Beach, New York, United States. It is a large wooden hotel built near the end of the 19th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oak Ridge Historic District</span> Historic district in Tennessee, United States

Oak Ridge Historic District is a historic district in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mississippi Heritage Trust</span>

The Mississippi Heritage Trust (MHT) was established in 1992 as a non-profit preservation organization in the state of Mississippi. Its mission is to save and renew places meaningful to Mississippians and their history, which is accomplished by education, advocacy, and preservation. MHT is supported by private resources that include special funding events, membership fees, grants, and gifts. MHT is governed by a Board of Trustees, with day-to-day operation under the guidance of an Executive Director and staff located in Jackson, Mississippi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">J. B. Jones House</span> Historic house in Tennessee, United States

The J. B. Jones House in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, United States, is a farmhouse that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as one of the very small number of pre-Manhattan Project residences remaining in the city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Deery Inn</span> United States historic place

The Deery Inn, also known as "The Old Tavern" or "The Mansion House and Store," is a historic building on Main Street in Blountville, Tennessee. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is considered the "centerpiece" of the Blountville local historic district.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manhattan Project National Historical Park</span> National Historical Park of the United States

Manhattan Project National Historical Park is a United States National Historical Park commemorating the Manhattan Project that is run jointly by the National Park Service and Department of Energy. The park consists of three units: one in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, one in Los Alamos, New Mexico and one in Hanford, Washington. It was established on November 10, 2015 when Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz signed the memorandum of agreement that defined the roles that the two agencies had when managing the park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Columbus Landmarks</span> Historic preservation foundation in Ohio

The Columbus Landmarks Foundation, known as Columbus Landmarks, is a nonprofit historic preservation organization in Columbus, Ohio. The foundation is best-known for its list of endangered sites in the city and its annual design award, given to buildings, landscapes, and other sites created or renovated in Columbus. It was established in 1977 as a project of the Junior League of Columbus, Ohio, following the demolition of the city's historic Union Station. It is headquartered at 57 Jefferson Avenue, a contributing structure in the Jefferson Avenue Historic District in Downtown Columbus.

References

  1. National Register of Historic Places Registration Form for Oak Ridge Historic District Archived 2010-08-29 at the Wayback Machine , July 18, 1991
  2. "ETPA Announces 2010 Endangered Heritage list". Archived from the original on July 17, 2010. Retrieved July 17, 2010.
  3. Lake, Hillary (April 23, 2011). "East Tennessee landmark hotel's future is uncertain". WBIR . Archived from the original on February 5, 2013. Retrieved April 24, 2011.