Guyon Hotel | |
 The Guyon Hotel in 2010 | |
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| Location | 4000 W. Washington Blvd., Chicago, Illinois |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 41°52′55″N87°43′35″W / 41.88194°N 87.72639°W |
| Area | less than one acre |
| Built | 1928 |
| Architect | Jensen J. Jensen |
| Architectural style | Moorish Revival [1] |
| NRHP reference No. | 85000966 [2] |
| Added to NRHP | May 9, 1985 |
The Guyon Hotel is a historic former hotel in Chicago, Illinois. The hotel was designed by Jens J. Jensen - no relation to the famous landscape architect Jens Jensen - in 1927 and was built in red and cream brick with arched windows on two floors and exquisite, detailed terra cotta ornaments typical of Jensen's work. [3] [4] It was built at a cost of $1,650,000 by J. Louis Guyon, a French-Canadian nightclub owner and dance instructor. [1]
The Guyon Hotel's first floor included commercial space and the hotel's lobby. [4] Two ballrooms were located on the second floor. [4] Guyon resided in the south penhouse. [4]
After the hotel opened in 1928, owner J. Louis Guyon mounted two AM radio towers to broadcast his radio station, WGES; the station aired morally conservative programming and music. [1] One of the second floor ballrooms was used as the station's studio. [4] Control of WGES was transferred to Harry and Thomas Guyon in the mid-1930s, and the station left the hotel in 1942, but it continues to broadcast as WGRB. [5] [6] [7] [8] The hotel entered into receivership during the Great Depression, and in 1939 it was sold for $425,000. [1] In 1940, it was sold to Jack Galper and George London. [1] In 1948, the AM towers were replaced with an FM tower, and WOAK began broadcasts from the hotel. [9] [10] [4] WOAK became WFMT in 1951 and began airing classical music. [11] In 1954, the station's studios and transmitter were moved to the LaSalle–Wacker Building. [9] [11] In 1964, the hotel was sold for $500,000. [1]
Soon after the hotel opened, police raided the four-room suite of Jack McGurn, also known as "Machine Gun Jack McGurn", a member of Al Capone's mob, and arrested him and another man after finding a machine gun and other weapons. [12]
In 1985, the Guyon Hotel was sold to the Lutheran non-profit organization Bethel New Life, who renovated the building and converted it to affordable housing. [1] Former President Jimmy Carter stayed in the renovated hotel for a week while working on a rehabilitation project with Habitat for Humanity; his room was reportedly "roach-infested" and "furnished with only a couch and a milk crate". [1] The housing effort ultimately failed when Bethel New Life ran out of funds. The building currently lies vacant and has changed possession over six times since 1995. [3] Due to building code violations, the hotel is in city demolition court; it is considered one of the ten most endangered landmarks in Illinois by the Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois. [13]
The Guyon Hotel was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 9, 1985. [2]
