Antlers Hotel (Colorado Springs, Colorado)

Last updated
The Antlers in 2016 ANTLERSsunrise-5.jpg
The Antlers in 2016

The Antlers is a Wyndham Hotel located in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It opened in 1967 and is the third hotel of that name on the same site.

Contents

The first Antlers Hotel was built in 1883 and burned down in 1898.

The second Antlers Hotel, completed in 1901, was torn down in 1964 to make way for the current Antlers.

Geography

The hotel site is located in the center of downtown Colorado Springs, [1] on Cascade Avenue, just off of Colorado Avenue. It is near Interstate 25. [2] The hotel is near the former Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad depot building [3] and Antlers Park and adjacent to the Antlers Garage.

Description

The downtown hotel has 272 rooms, including 14 executive suites, 5 junior suite, city facing governors suite and mountain facing founders suite. Within the hotel is 27,500 square feet of meeting space, an indoor pool, health club, beauty salon, breakfast restaurant, sports bar and lobby bar with 50 beers on tap and 50 wines by the glass. [4]

History

First building (1883–1898)

In June 1883, [lower-alpha 1] twelve years after he founded the City of Colorado Springs as a railroad town, [8] William Jackson Palmer built The Antlers hotel. The hotel was designed by Peabody & Stearns and Pierce P. Furber. [9] [10] It was built near the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railway (D&RGW), which Palmer had co-founded in 1870. The hotel was named for the large elk and deer racks that Palmer installed in the building. [1] [6] It had 75 unique guest rooms, a music room, Turkish Bath, children's playroom, billiards room, and a barber shop. The hotel had gas lights, steam heat, hot and cold water, and a hydraulic elevator. [1] [11] It was unusually elegant for a hotel in the west. Palmer contributed $125,000 ($4.1 million today) towards the cost of its construction. [11] [12]

The Antlers burned down on October 1, 1898, [1] when a fire started at the nearby D&RGW freight depot. [11] [lower-alpha 2]

Second building (1901–1964)

Palmer rebuilt the hotel in 1901 with Italian Renaissance architecture, [1] [6] designed by the Varian and Sterner architectural firm. It was an elegant hotel with views of Pikes Peak, 200 rooms, a restaurant, the Rose Ballroom, fireproof walls, tapestries, and mosaic floors. [11] [14] [15] Presidents who visited the hotel include Theodore Roosevelt, who gave a speech off a hotel balcony in 1901, [16] Warren G. Harding and William Howard Taft. [14] William Jackson Palmer died in 1909, after which Spencer Penrose attempted to buy the hotel but could not reach an agreement, leading him to build The Broadmoor in 1918. [8] The last guest checked out on September 20, 1964, after which demolition began on the second Antlers Hotel building. [6] [lower-alpha 3]

Third building (1967–present)

The Antlers in 2011, when it was a Hilton hotel Antlers Hilton, Palmer Center.jpg
The Antlers in 2011, when it was a Hilton hotel

The current structure was built by Western International Hotels [17] and opened on March 20, 1967, as the Antlers Plaza Hotel. [1] [6] The hotel is about 170 feet (52 m) tall with 14 floors. [18]

Western International operated the hotel until March 31, 1975, when it was taken over by the Broadmoor Management Company, which shuttled guests to and from The Broadmoor in a double-decker London-styled bus. [1] The Antlers hotel was remodeled for $24 million ($59 million today) in 1989–90. [11] [19] By 1998, the hotel was operating as the Antlers Doubletree Hotel, when it was sold to the Adam's Mark Hotels & Resorts for $35.4 million ($66.2 million today) and renamed the Antlers Adam's Mark. [19] [20]

The hotel was purchased for $27.2 million ($45.1 million today) in 2003 by a joint venture of Morgan Stanley Real Estate Group and Pyramid Hotel Group, which then spent an estimated $7.5 million ($12.4 million today) in renovations. [12] When it announced the renovations to the 292 room hotel, the hotel changed its name from Antlers Adam's Mark Hotel to Antlers Hilton Hotel. [21]

A limited liability company of LNR Partners of Miami Beach, Florida, which was the hotel's lender, took control of the firm in 2007. The hotel went into foreclosure and was purchased by an entity of LNR Partners at a foreclosure auction in December 2013. [12]

On October 27, 2015, the property was purchased by attorneys Perry R. Sanders Jr. and John Goede. The new owners quickly dropped the Hilton name, returning the hotel to its original straightforward name of "The Antlers". [22] On September 29, 2016, the hotel branded with Wyndham Hotels as The Antlers, A Wyndham Hotel., [23] with Sanders and Goede retaining ownership of the hotel.

While there had been 24 hotels in downtown Colorado Springs in 1927, by 2015 the Antlers and the Mining Exchange were the only remaining downtown hotels. [24]

Notes

  1. ↑ The Hilton site states that the hotel was founded in 1873, [5] but sources consistently state that it opened in 1883 or June 1883. [1] [6] The 1879 City Directory for Colorado Springs does not have Antlers Hotel listed as a hotel. There is a hotel at Cascade and Pikes Peak, but it is the Colorado Springs Hotel and it is on the southeast corner. [7]
  2. ↑ It is also reported, without further substantiation, that the fire started when a cinder from a passing train fell on the hotel and that several people were killed in the blaze. [13]
  3. ↑ The Colorado Historic Hotels book states that the building was torn down as the result of a fire. [14]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colorado Springs, Colorado</span> City in Colorado, United States

Colorado Springs is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the most populous city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 census, a 15.02% increase since 2010. Colorado Springs is the second-most populous city and the most extensive city in the state of Colorado, and the 40th-most-populous city in the United States. It is the principal city of the Colorado Springs metropolitan area, which had 755,105 residents in 2020, and the second-most prominent city of the Front Range Urban Corridor. It is located in east-central Colorado on Fountain Creek, 70 miles (113 km) south of Denver.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Jackson Palmer</span> American engineer and veteran of the Civil War (1836–1909)

William Jackson Palmer was an American civil engineer and veteran of the American Civil War. During the Civil War, he was promoted to brevet brigadier general and received a Medal of Honor for his actions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Broadmoor</span> Historic hotel in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

The Broadmoor is a hotel and resort in the Broadmoor neighborhood of Colorado Springs, Colorado. The Broadmoor is a member of Historic Hotels of America of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Its visitors have included heads of state, celebrities, and professional sports stars. It is owned by The Anschutz Corporation through its subsidiary, The Broadmoor-Sea Island Company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broadmoor World Arena (1998)</span> Arena in Colorado Springs

The Broadmoor World Arena in Colorado Springs, Colorado is an 8,000 seat multi-purpose arena and entertainment venue. The arena opened in 1998. In addition to the main arena, the adjacent Ice Hall contains two practice rinks, one NHL-sized and one Olympic-sized.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pikes Peak International Raceway</span> Motorsport track in the United States

Pikes Peak International Raceway (PPIR) is a racetrack in the Colorado Springs area within the city limits of Fountain, Colorado, that by October 12, 1997, was "the fastest 1-mile paved oval anywhere". The speedway hosted races in several series including the Indy Racing League and two NASCAR series until operations were suspended from August 2005. A wide variety of amateur racing groups use PPIR for racing and training as the circuit is now closed to sanctioned professional auto racing due to the purchase of the track by PPIR LLC from NASCAR/ISC in 2008 after the track was put up for sale in 2006. The sale included a clause that prohibited sanctioned professional auto racing, as well as the need for additional safety upgrades at a cost of $1 million+ for professional racing series that the new ownership had no interest in implementing with the clause in place.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spencer Penrose</span>

Spencer Penrose was an American entrepreneur and philanthropist. He made his fortune from mining, ore processing, and real estate speculation in Colorado and other parts of the West. He founded the Utah Copper Company in 1903, and also established mining operations in Arizona, New Mexico and Nevada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Will Rogers Shrine of the Sun</span> Commemorative tower and chapel in Colorado Springs, Colorado

Will Rogers Shrine of the Sun, also known as Will Rogers Shrine, is a commemorative tower and chapel on Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It is named after Will Rogers, the American humorist, who died in a plane crash in Alaska in 1935 during construction of the shrine. It is also a tomb for the remains of Spencer Penrose – who built many of the city's prominent properties, including the neighboring Cheyenne Mountain Zoo and The Broadmoor resort – and his wife Julie Penrose. Completed by Penrose in 1937, the shrine is a 100 feet (30 m), five story observation tower that overlooks The Broadmoor, Colorado Springs, and Garden of the Gods.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Colorado Springs, Colorado</span> Place in Colorado, United States

Before it was founded, the site of modern-day Colorado Springs, Colorado, was part of the American frontier. Old Colorado City, built in 1859 during the Pike's Peak Gold Rush was the Colorado Territory capital. The town of Colorado Springs was founded by General William Jackson Palmer as a resort town. Old Colorado City was annexed into Colorado Springs. Railroads brought tourists and visitors to the area from other parts of the United States and abroad. The city was noted for junctions for seven railways: Denver and Rio Grande (1870), Denver and New Orleans Manitou Branch (1882), Colorado Midland (1886–1918), Colorado Springs and Interurban, Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe (1889), Rock Island (1889), and Colorado Springs and Cripple Creek Railways. It was also known for mining exchanges and brokers for the Cripple Creek Gold Rush.

Charles Leaming Tutt Jr. was the son of Charles L. Tutt Sr. and the president of The Broadmoor resort. He was a trustee for El Pomar Foundation and Colorado College.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palmer Park (Colorado Springs)</span>

Palmer Park is a regional park in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Located at 3650 Maizeland Road, the park is several miles northeast of the downtown area. Elevation Outdoors Magazine named it Best Urban Park in its Best of Rockies 2017 list. One of Best of the Springs Expert Picks - Sports & Recreation by The Gazette, Seth Boster states that it may have the city's best views of Pikes Peak and a place "where an escape into deep nature is easy. It is strange and marvelous to look out at urban sprawl while perched on some high rock ledge, surrounded by rugged wilderness."

Ivywild, Colorado, is a subdivision of Colorado Springs south of the downtown, west of Cascade Avenue and along Cheyenne Creek.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cheyenne Mountain Highway</span> Road in Colorado Springs, Colorado

The Cheyenne Mountain Highway, also called Cheyenne Mountain Zoo Road, is a road in Colorado Springs, Colorado that begins at the intersection of Penrose Boulevard, Old Stage Road, and West Cheyenne Mountain Boulevard. It is a paved road to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo and the Will Rogers Shrine of the Sun. Thereafter, it is an unpaved private road to one of the peaks of the mountain, known as The Horns.

Knob Hill, is a neighborhood of Colorado Springs in El Paso County, Colorado, United States, and is located northeast of downtown Colorado Springs.

Englemann Canyon is a valley along Ruxton Creek, in Manitou Springs, El Paso County, Colorado. It is one of three canyons in Manitou Springs, the others are Ute Pass and Williams Canyon.

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seven Lakes, Colorado</span>

Seven Lakes is an abandoned, historically populated place in Teller County, Colorado, on the Pikes Peak mountain. It was once the site of the Seven Lakes Hotel along a carriage road to the summit of Pikes Peak. Its waters flow from Beaver Creek to the Lake Moraine reservoir, a supplier of water to Colorado Springs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cheyenne Creek</span> Stream in Colorado Springs, Colorado, U.S.

Cheyenne Creek is a stream in Colorado Springs, El Paso County, Colorado at 5,920 feet (1,800 m) in elevation. The stream is fed by the North Cheyenne Creek and South Cheyenne Creek and flows into Fountain Creek near Nevada Avenue, between Interstate 25 and the Pikes Peak Greenway trail. North Cheyenne Creek and South Cheyenne Creek flow through Teller and El Paso Counties. The source of South Cheyenne Creek is Mount Big Chief, near St. Peter's Dome, and it flows to Seven Falls.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cheyenne Mountain</span> Mountain in El Paso County, Colorado, US

Cheyenne Mountain is a triple-peaked mountain in El Paso County, Colorado, southwest of downtown Colorado Springs. The mountain serves as a host for military, communications, recreational, and residential functions. The underground operations center for the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) was built during the Cold War to monitor North American airspace for missile launches and Soviet military aircraft. Built deep within granite, it was designed to withstand the impact and fallout from a nuclear bomb. Its function broadened with the end of the Cold War, and then many of its functions were transferred to Peterson Air Force Base in 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tahama Spring</span> Mineral spring in Colorado

Tahama Spring is a mineral spring in Monument Valley Park in Colorado Springs. Named by the city's founder, General William Jackson Palmer, the spring honors Tamaha, who is mentioned by explorer Zebulon Montgomery Pike in two journal entries in 1805. When the local Parks Board commissioned a pavilion in 1926 to commemorate these early pioneers, the name “Tahama Spring” was selected and inscribed on decorative limestone-carved cartouches above each entrance.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "History of the Antlers". Antlers Hilton. Retrieved February 10, 2015.
  2. ↑ Judith C. Galas; Cindy West (1997). Walking Colorado Springs. Globe Pequot Press. p. 66. ISBN   978-1-56044-535-7.[ dead link ]
  3. ↑ Claude Wiatrowski (15 June 2009). Historic Colorado: Day Trips & Weekend Getaways to Historic Towns, Cities, Sites & Wonders. MBI Publishing Company. p. 198. ISBN   978-1-61673-208-0.[ dead link ]
  4. ↑ Insight Guides (May 1, 2014). "Colorado Springs". Insight Guides: Colorado. APA. ISBN   978-1-78005-804-7.
  5. ↑ "Antlers Hilton Hotel Colorado Springs". Hilton Hotels & Resorts. Archived from the original on February 7, 2015. Retrieved February 10, 2015.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Thomas P. Lowry (August 2, 2007). "William J. Palmer: Forgotten Union General of America's Civil War". Civil War Times. Archived from the original on March 16, 2008. Retrieved February 8, 2014– via Weider History Network.
  7. ↑ "1879 Colorado Springs City Directory" (PDF). Pikes Peak Library District (digital copy). p. 123. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 5, 2016. Retrieved February 10, 2015.
  8. 1 2 Bill Vogrin (December 7, 2014). "Side Streets: A Toast to Spencer Penrose on His 75th Anniversary for a Colorful and Important Life". The Gazette. Colorado Springs, Colorado.[ dead link ]
  9. ↑ "The New Hotel—Complete Plans Received From the Architects—Some Description of the Exterior and Interior of the Building". Colorado Springs Weekly Gazette . Vol. XI, no. 33. July 23, 1881. p. 7 – via Internet Archive.
  10. ↑ Robinson, Annie (2010). Peabody & Stearns: Country Houses and Seaside Cottages (1st ed.). W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN   978-0393732184.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 Judith C. Galas; Cindy West (1997). Walking Colorado Springs. Globe Pequot Press. p. 29. ISBN   978-1-56044-535-7.
  12. 1 2 3 Rich Laden (December 7, 2013). "Antlers Hotel taken over by a lender; Was sold in July at foreclosure auction" (PDF). The Gazette. Colorado Springs, Colorado. p. E 2:1. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 11, 2015 – via Pikes Peak Library District.
  13. ↑ Stephanie Waters (2012). Ghosts of Colorado Springs and Pikes Peak. The History Press. p. 115. ISBN   978-1-60949-467-4.
  14. 1 2 3 Alexandra Walker Clark (2011). Colorado's Historic Hotels. The History Press. p. 103. ISBN   978-1-60949-301-1.
  15. ↑ Western Fruit Jobber. Western Fruit Jobbers Association of America. 1920. p. 143.
  16. ↑ A. K. Sandoval-Strausz (2007). Hotel: An American History . Yale University Press. p.  250. ISBN   978-0-300-10616-9.
  17. ↑ "Westin Hotel Co | Encyclopedia.com".
  18. ↑ "Antlers Hilton Hotel". Emporis. Archived from the original on February 11, 2015. Retrieved February 10, 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  19. 1 2 Wayne Heilman (January 7, 2004). "Downtown's Antlers hotel changing hands". The Gazette. Colorado Springs, Colorado. Archived from the original on March 29, 2015.
  20. ↑ Wayne Heilman (September 4, 1998). "Downtown Colorado Springs, Colo., Office-Shopping Complex Purchased". Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. Archived from the original on March 29, 2015.
  21. ↑ Wayne Heilman (July 31, 2004). "Antlers Hotel picks up Hilton brand". Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. Archived from the original on March 29, 2015.
  22. ↑ "New owners of iconic Colorado Springs hotel make quick change". Colorado Springs Gazette. Retrieved 2015-10-29.
  23. ↑ "The Antlers, A Wyndham Hotel, Opens in Colorado Springs, Colo".
  24. ↑ John Hazlehurst (June 12, 2009). "Colorado Springs lacking in downtown hotels". The Gazette. Colorado Springs, Colorado. Archived from the original on March 29, 2015.

Bibliography

38°50′0.68″N104°49′34.41″W / 38.8335222°N 104.8262250°W / 38.8335222; -104.8262250

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.