Historic Hotel undergoes restoration

Plans include luxury apartments, ballroom, restaurants

By DON WILBURN

Donaldfwilburn@gmail.com

Those with a keen eye might have noticed some “goings on,” so to speak, at one of the City of Marion’s oldest landmarks. The Marion Hotel, on Old Marion Road just south of the Crittenden County Courthouse is getting a major facelift.

A restoration of the Marion Hotel is currently in full swing as construction trucks can be seen out front and loud noises can be heard coming from inside. Curious residents are encouraged not to go inside as the area is an active construction site and falling debris from the second floor present a serious risk.

While exact plans are still being worked out, the project manager says that while nothing is written in stone, potential plans for the historic building could include “high-end luxury apartments on the second

See HOTEL, page A2

First floor of the Marion Hotel as seen from the entrance shows the scope of work needed to restore the historic building.

Photo by Don Wilburn HOTEL

From page A1

and third floors, with an event center and ballroom on the first with at least one if not two restaurants”.

The work being done is planned so that much care would be given to keep the hotel as original as possible with a focus more on restoration than remodeling.

Talking with local residents, many were excited about the possibilities of what the restoration might bring and were also quick to point out the hotel’s most recent claims to fame being that it was used briefly as a filming location.

In the opening sequence of the 1993Tom Cruise film “The Firm,” No scenes were filmed outside the hotel, scenes clearly depict a “run-down” apartment in the interior. Although the rest of the film was made in and about the Memphis area, with a scene also being shot at Southland Greyhound Park, the apartment itself was set in Massachusetts and not Marion.

The exterior can be seen in the 2017 TV series “Sun Records,” a look at the early days of the music careers of Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins at the famous Memphis record studio.

The current owner of the hotel, who asked to remain anonymous for the moment also bought and restored the Marion Bank building adjacent to the hotel (arcountydata. org notes the property was sold by Fogleman Investment Company LLC to Marion Hotel LLC on July 1.

The historic hotel was originally built in 1910 and owned by Jacob and Mabel Jones. The following is an excerpt about the Marion Hotel taken from The Historical Marker Database (hmdb.org): The first “inn” bearing the name of Marion Hotel was built and operated by Peter Berry, who came to Crittenden County in the early 1830’s from Kentucky. Berry lived briefly at Hopefield, and then moved to Marion. His hotel was on the north side of Military Road near the steamboat landing.

A big dance was given to celebrate the opening of the hotel prompted a hairdresser coming from Memphis to provide the latest hairdos for the ladies who would be attending. The hotel’s dining room was a favorite spot for those who chose to dine out. The Hotel was the location for most important social events and there are stories of Mayor Crump of Memphis frequently visiting the hotel for these events. The large second floor lobby was used for weekly social events.

Electricity, telephones and plumbing was not added until the 1920s. The building had three apartments on the west side, one of which housed G.T. Treadgill’s barber shop and pool hall, one apartment and a dormitory, and the dining room were on the east side. The hotel, which offered a private room for $40 a month or a room for two for $37.50 a month, became the home for most Marion teachers in the 1920s and 1930s.

At one time, the first floor east wing of the first floor was used as a dining room with the remaining areas on the first floor used as a drug store, post office, doctor’s office. In the mid-forties, the rooms were converted into apartments.

Designed and built by Major Moore, the building was completed December of 1911. The hotel, which is constructed of native hardwoods, brick and concrete, had pressed tin ceilings and hardwood floors. The hotel had its own water system and gas lamps provided the original lighting. The U-shape of the structure allowed for natural cross-ventilation of the second floor and the original 31 rooms, three private baths. The hotel was the location of the Marion Post Office from 1925 to 1961.

Marion Hotel established was established more than a century ago in 1911.

A view from one of the upstairs rooms in the Marion Hotel shows traces of the hotel’s heyday.

Lefthand side of the downstairs interior, looking in the direction of the Courthouse.

Photos by Don Wilburn