The Fairhaven Hotel(1889-1956) was, in my opinion, a masterpiece of historic architectural style. The hotel rose approximately 60 feet above the street at 12th & Harris with a tower that was about 100 feet high. Unfortunately, it was mostly lost due to a tragic fire and then demolished in the 1950's. Mark Twain was a guest at the hotel in 1895.
The current property owners are looking into building a new hotel that would be based on the historic hotel. Since the original blue prints still exist and they are incredible, it gives the architects something to work with other than just a photograph. Of course, as you can imagine the city zoning codes have changed a bit over the years and height restrictions, setbacks, etc. will be a huge factor for this wonderful undertaking.
Currently, the Fairhaven district has two boutique hotels, which are the Village Inn and the Chrysalis Spa & Hotel. This project would be a great addition to Fairhaven with the possibility of offering boutique hotel space, condominiums, offices as well as street level retail store fronts to add to the ambiance of our great community.
This proposed project would be an excellent replacement to the vacated gas station and old railroad cars, which currently call this Historic Fairhaven parcel home. See www.fairhaven.com for more community information.
(The site is on the left with the tall tree in the foreground)
