E.M.
Statler takes great interest in proposals from
two Midwest cities. Pittsburgh offers Statler
the option of renovating its William Penn Hotel,
or demolishing it to build new. Detroit offers
evidence of its massive growth and industry.
Statler purchases tickets for a train to Pittsburgh
and a boat to Detroit. He gathers newsmen around
and proceeds to flip a coin. After viewing the
results he announces he will be taking the boat
trip. It makes a good story but no one cares
to point out that Statler never stated which
side of the coin meant what city.
Statler
arrives in Detroit and is meet by a large man
named Homer Warren. Warren had been Detroit's
strongest spokesman for obtaining a Statler
Hotel. From the pier the two men climb into
a Model T and began a tour of the city. Throughout
the tour Warren brags about Detroit's growth,
and Henry Ford's assembly line. He points out
lots around the center business district but
Warren has saved the best for last.
The
car pulls up to a plot of land along Grand Circus
Park at the intersection of Washington Blvd.
and Bagley Ave. On the site sits the old John
J. Bagley house owned by Arthur Fleming, a prominent
Detroiter who desires a Statler Hotel. Warren
states that the area may seem out of the way
but it was fast becoming the center of the downtown.
Statler then spends the afternoon examining
the park area before saying "Let's go talk
to Fleming."
It
is settled. Detroit will be the site for Statler's
third hotel.
George
B. Post and Louis Rorimer, the same team which
designed the Cleveland Statler, are called to
draft plans for an 800 room structure.
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