The Boston Park Plaza is a former Statler Hotel in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, opened on March 10, 1927, built by hotelier E.M. Statler. A prototype of the grand American hotel, it was called a "city within a city". It was the first hotel in the world to offer in-room radio in every room.
Boston Park Plaza is a member of Historic Hotels of America, the official program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Video Boston Park Plaza Hotel & Towers
History
During the hotel's construction, it was discovered that the Statler's planned 155 foot height exceeded the maximum height of 125 feet allowed by the Massachusetts State Building Code. However the building was granted a special exemption by Mayor James Michael Curley, making it the tallest building in the city for a time, with the exception of the Boston Custom House. The building, filling an entire triangular city block, has two uses. The western half houses the hotel, while the eastern half has, since the building's construction, served as offices.
The hotel opened on March 10, 1927 as the Hotel Statler Boston. The Statler chain was sold to Hilton Hotels in 1954 and the hotel was renamed the Statler Hilton Boston. The hotel was again sold in 1976 to the Irving M. Saunders family and renamed the Boston Park Plaza Hotel & Towers.
In the 1990s Trans World Airlines operated a ticket office in the hotel building. Delta Air Lines also had a ticket office in the building.
The building was also home to the Northern Jurisdiction of the Scottish Rite from 1927-1968.
From 1957-1977, Radio station WEZE had its broadcast studio on the first floor of the Statler Office Building overlooking Lincoln Square. George Carlin worked briefly as a disc jockey at the station after being discharged from the Army in 1957. He claimed to have been fired by the station three months after being hired for taking the station news car to New York to purchase marijuana.
In 2010, the hotel's Swan's Cafe was named one of Yankee magazine's Best 5 New England Teahouses. (It has since closed)
Maps Boston Park Plaza Hotel & Towers
Park Plaza Castle
The hotel used to operate the Park Plaza Castle, a banquet facility located in the adjacent former Armory of the First Corps of Cadets building, listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
References
- "Profile of The Boston Park Plaza and Towers", Historic Hotels of America, National Trust for Historic Preservation
External links
- Boston Park Plaza official website
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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