The Grand Ambitions of the Denny Hotel
After nine years of fits and starts, one of the largest hotels on the Pacific Coast is finally set to open its doors in Seattle.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
What will, it is said, be one of the finest hotel buildings on the Pacific Coast, is now receiving its final touches. The Denny Hotel will, in a very short time, be ready for occupancy, and will be run as a first-class institution. Mr. E. P. Edmo, of the Denny Hotel Company, stated in the interview that the hotel for the time being will be run on the European plan, so that it may be operated to the best advantage. The history of the building is interesting. The first work was done on it in 1890, but owing to financial trouble there, construction operations ceased and were not resumed until about a year ago. The immense structure is now nearly completed. Mr. I. M. Pelton is the foreman having charge of the work, with architect Jennings of New York and A. M. Wickersham of New York also in the city. The Denny hotel is located between Third and Fourth streets, running north and south, and with Virginia and Stewart streets running east and west. It occupies two full blocks. The cost of the hotel has already gone over $1,000,000. The building contains 500 rooms, of which 100 are suites. The large and commodious dining room can seat over 1,000 people at one time. The hotel is furnished with the latest improvements—steam, electric power, and running water in every room, along with an elevator, accommodating every floor in the massive building.
“The history of the building is interesting. The first work was done on it in 1890, but owing to financial trouble there, construction operations ceased.”
The 'Denny Hotel' was an ill-fated project that began during the boom of the 1890s and sat partially finished for nearly a decade—a common narrative in Seattle’s history of speculative real estate development. Today, the corner of 3rd and Virginia is part of the dense urban core, mirroring the perpetual cycle of 'boom and bust' construction that defines Seattle's skyline evolution.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.