Pullman Plaza Hotel
Introduction
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Images
Construction of the two elevator shafts, 1975. Photo courtesy of Richard Bartram.
Prefab Floors installed, 1975. Photos taken from the Huntington Quarterly issue 10.
Pullman Plaza 2018 Found on Google
Backstory and Context
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Original owner Harold Lawrence Frankel opened the hotel as a Holiday Inn franchise upon completion in 1975. Construction of the hotel involved an innovative "top-down" building process. The design firm of Cann-Termohlen began assembling the structure by having contractors first build twin elevator shafts at the center of the site. Each floor of the hotel, beginning with the topmost, was assembled from precast panels on the ground level and were hoisted into place by a system of pulleys on the top of the elevator shafts. The hotel is contained in a city block, and it has 203 rooms. The hotel also has 20,000 square feet of convention and banquet space, a restaurant, and lounge.
In 1986, the hotel reopened as a Radisson after sitting vacant for a few years. In 2006, owner Phil Cline of River City Associates Inc. changed the name to Pullman Plaza Hotel to better represent Downtown Huntington and its surroundings. The hotel was remodeled and rebranded as a DoubleTree by Hilton in 2018. The hotel has operated as a DoubleTree by Hilton since early 2019, making the local landmark the first DoubleTree by Hilton in West Virginia.
Sources
Pace, Fred. Renovation work begins inside Pullman Plaza Hotel, The Herald-Dispatch. February 11th 2018. Accessed October 1st 2019. https://www.herald-dispatch.com/business/renovation-work-begins-inside-pullman-plaza-hotel/article_8a64fd12-9e43-519a-bd25-6a8ddeef65dc.html.
Pace, Fred. Huntington's Pullman Plaza Hotel to become DoubleTree, Charleston Gazette-Mail. July 23rd 2018. Accessed October 1st 2019. https://www.wvgazettemail.com/business/huntington-s-pullman-plaza-hotel-to-become-doubletree/article_fff6f226-8601-5fd2-ad0c-cf4457c4a1e7.html.
Mendez, Josephine. Pullman Plaza Hotel bought by developer, The Herald-Dispatch. May 21st 2016. Accessed October 1st 2019. https://www.herald-dispatch.com/news/pullman-plaza-hotel-bought-by-developer/article_bac40cfc-c2a7-5ad2-bec4-06e0e23e9fe7.html.
Cabell County Architectural Guide, Marshall University. January 1st 2009. Accessed October 1st 2019. http://www.marshall.edu/special-collections/bozolli/pdf/TourA-HuntingtonDowntown-final.pdf.