urbanSTL

Marriott is headquartered in Bethesda, MD and I have friends with the company and we have talked about this. It is important to note that Marriott did not sell the Pavilion because it was doing poorly. Marriott did not own the building, which is common. The people that owned the building sold it for their own reasons. They happened to sell it to a company that wanted Hilton or has connections with Hilton. The Pavilion and the Grand have been recovering recently from the post 911 slump - recent reports confirm this. This change did not happen because Marriott wanted to dump a DTSTL property. In the meantime, they will probably welcome the chance to focus on the Grand, but as things pick up - and they have been - there is no reason to think they couldn't return some day. They have a big presence in the St. Louis area and like the market.

Expat, they clearly like the St. Louis market, otherwise why else would they be involved in the new Residence Inn off Jefferson near 40. Residence Inn is a Marriott property. However, for the time being, I think it is good that the company focus on getting the Renisance healthy.

I want to know what this Pavillon is. I read about it, but I have no idea what part of the hotel is the Pavillon.

I don't think anyone does because they covered it all up. The plan is probably to restore much of what the Pavilion was.

Isn't the pavilion the part that fronts Broadway, near Pitchers bar?

i beleive so, it's pretty much the lobby part, it's a little one story thing.

The Marriott Pavilion Hotel will change to the new Hilton Pavilion Hotel Downtown St. Louis. the hotel will change flagships this winter.



So this will give Downtown St. Louis 2 Hilton Hotels - 3 Hilton Towers - soon. The new Hilton on 4th Street and now the Pavilion. Interesting!

What's going on at this hotel? It looks like they've been doing some major construction work there lately - the wall that fronts Broadway has been removed and is currently boarded up. Does anyone know what the plans are?

Pictures of the exterior renovation plans can be found on-line here.

Very useful info here as usual. I'm meeting with sales next week to look at this hotel for a conference in 2007.

Sorry if this is posted somewhere in the many threads of the many forums.

The Hilton in downtown St. Louis is so excited about its new neighbor it?s changing its name to the Ballpark Hotel and undertaking a $16 million face-lift.

I know. My family had to navigate through the interior construction to reach our room during a recent stay over spring break.

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascit ... 146365.htm

It's somewhere else too but it's worth repeating. The new Hilton is going to be incredible. I toured it last week (looking for conference space). They promise that it will be open by April 10. The Hilton has plans to build a bridge across to second story meeting space above the new Mike Shannon's.

It will be the second HILTON downtown. The new <A HREF="http://www.urbanstl.com/viewtopic.php?t=610">Hilton Downtown St. Louis</A> - just down the street on 4th - was opened last year.

I was wondering that myself. It looks like there is some sort of bar outside where Pitcher's was, but I'm not sure what it's called.

By the way, the re-installed bus shelter at the southwest corner of Broadway and Market is no longer a bus stop. Evidently, the new curbing isn't long enough to safely allow a bus to stop without blocking either Market or the entrance to the new hotel drop-off. And since Metro outsourced their shelters to Wall, a company that cares more about advertising income than whether are not these shelters turned billboards are even bus stops, people wait on this new corner, wondering why buses aren't stopping to pick them up. Great public perception sustained by Metro!

I was told by the hotel that Pitcher's was a name associated or owned by Marriott. The bar will remain but has a new name.

I have a copy of the «Pictures» section of the Post-Dispatch from Sunday, November 7, 1965. It has an article about the Spanish Pavilion. I would upload pictures if I could, but I cannot. I can retype the main text portion, though.



{

The Spanish Pavilion

'Jewel' of the New York World's Fair Coveted by Mayor Cervantes



By CLARENCE E. OLSON of the PICTURES Staff



After the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis, the city retained one spendid building—the Spanish Pavilion, called the "jewel" of the New York World's Fair. The Spanish government is anxious to dispose of the structure—and will give it away—because the site must be cleared by January 17. Unless the pavilion can be moved by that time, it will be demolished and lost forever.

The major problem facing St. Louis officials and potential financial backers is that this deadline does not leave time for a thorough study to determine whether acquisition of the pavilion is economically and esthetically sound. The first consideration has been the raising of the $800,000 needed to dismantle and move the large building almost 1000 miles. It is estimated that an additional $1,900,000 will be needed to rebuild the pavilion, plus some $800,000 for a site in downtown St. Louis. A $500,000 contingency fund brings the total estimated cost to $4,000,000. The pavilion, with its 120,000 feet of floor space, would be used as a cultural center or civic center. It contains a 780-seat theater, several gallery areas for art displays, three restaurants, an inner court and other facilities. The dramatic flourishes of its interior architecture made it one of the most attractive features of the recently closed fair.

Several sites have been proposed for the building, all of them near the downtown stadium now under construction. Mayor Cervantes has estimated that the pavilion could produce $1,000,000 in annual income from admission fees, profits from restaurant and theater concessions and charges to exhibitors. Plans call for private financing with the city retaining some form of control over the project.

}



The author seems to have been unable to place the «æ» character for the spelling of «æsthetics». He also seems to have been unable to see the obvious folly of the mayor's income estimate for the pavilion. I can also include copies of the photograph captions.



{

Photos by PAUL BERG of the PICTURES Staff



The Spanish Pavilion has an unrevealing exterior of vertical lines that would blend architecturally with other structures now planned in the stadium area of downtown St. Louis. The entrance (below corner) is guarded by a sliding wrought-iron gate 27 feet long and five feet high designed by Spanish sculptor Amadeo Gabino.



In a display area on the second floor, massive columns are suspended from the ceiling. Some 350,000 blocks of walnut wood were used to form the Moorish ceilings in the building. Rust-red Spanish tiles were used for the floors. Javier Carvajal, professor of art at Madrid's Escuela Tenica de Arquitectura, was chiefly responsible for the pavilion's design.



In a hall that housed Catholic religious art, a astained glass wall designed by Manuel Molezun creates patterns of light. Other Spanish artists produced paint, ceramic and collage murals as well as other built-in artwork for the pavilion.



A large courtyard in the Spanish tradition is at the center of the 320-by-220-foot building, producing a hidden garden spot that may be viewed from many angles by diners, theater-goers and other visitors in the building.

}



One ought to note that, although most of the upper concrete band of the pavilion remains, it seems that most of the remainder of the pavilion is not in place. One also ought to note that this pavilion that the mayor attempted to bring as a community project has become property of a private entity for a solely profiting application. As I look at the pictures, I note that having the pavilion as a public building could have been very good for the city, providing a non-commerciàl break from Ballpark Land and a shady, sheltered break from the sunny, windswept Gateway Mall. Unfortunately, a city rarely has money for such a project and must enlist the help of people who have money and want more.[/img]

I don't know the downtown street grid here as well as most on here so we could be talking about different things. That said, went to the game last night and a patio restaurant at the Hilton, I think it was on Broadway, positive it was on the east side of the hotel, anyway the patio was open both before and after the game! It had a sign that said your pre/post game party headquarters or something like that. Walked by it about 5 min late and the tables were maybe a 3rd full. Didn't get to see it after . Granted it was against the Reds but the stadium garages to the east didn't seem to start hemorraghing(sp?) in the 8th inning as usual.

Blzhrpmd2 wrote:Any update on the name of the bar at Walnut and Broadway? Does the pation remain open pre/post game?

It's called the Sports Grille and Bar at Market.



edit: That's the name of the bar on the inside, don't know what they call the patio.