Guyon Hotel
United States historic place
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Guyon Hotel is a historic former hotel in Chicago, Illinois. The hotel was designed by Jens J. Jensen - no relation to the famous landscape architect Jens Jensen - in 1927 and was built in red and cream brick with arched windows on two floors and exquisite, detailed terra cotta ornaments typical of Jensen's work.[3][4] It was built at a cost of $1,650,000 by J. Louis Guyon, a French-Canadian nightclub owner and dance instructor.[1]
Guyon Hotel | |
The Guyon Hotel in 2010 | |
  Location within Chicago metropolitan area  Location within Illinois  Location within the United States | |
| Location | 4000 W. Washington Blvd., Chicago, Illinois |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 41°52′55″N 87°43′35″W |
| Area | less than one acre |
| Built | 1928 |
| Architect | Jens J. Jensen |
| Architectural style | Moorish Revival[1] |
| NRHP reference No. | 85000966[2] |
| Added to NRHP | May 9, 1985 |
The Guyon Hotel's first floor included commercial space and the hotel's lobby.[4] Two ballrooms were located on the second floor.[4] Guyon resided in the south penthouse.[4]
After the hotel opened in 1928, owner J. Louis Guyon mounted two AM radio towers to broadcast his radio station, WGES; the station aired morally conservative programming and music.[1] One of the second floor ballrooms was used as the station's studio.[4] Control of WGES was transferred to Harry and Thomas Guyon in the mid-1930s, and the station left the hotel in 1942, but it continues to broadcast as WGRB.[5][6][7][8] The hotel entered into receivership during the Great Depression, and in 1939 it was sold for $425,000.[1] In 1940, it was sold to Jack Galper and George London.[1] In 1948, the AM towers were replaced with an FM tower, and WOAK began broadcasts from the hotel.[9][10][4] WOAK became WFMT in 1951 and began airing classical music.[11] In 1954, the station's studios and transmitter were moved to the LaSalle–Wacker Building.[9][11] In 1964, the hotel was sold for $500,000.[1]
Soon after the hotel opened, police raided the four-room suite of Jack McGurn, also known as "Machine Gun Jack McGurn", a member of Al Capone's mob, and arrested him and another man after finding a machine gun and other weapons.[12]
In 1985, the Guyon Hotel was sold to the Lutheran non-profit organization Bethel New Life, who renovated the building and converted it to affordable housing.[1] Former President Jimmy Carter stayed in the renovated hotel for a week while working on a rehabilitation project with Habitat for Humanity; his room was reportedly "roach-infested" and "furnished with only a couch and a milk crate".[1] The housing effort ultimately failed when Bethel New Life ran out of funds. The building currently lies vacant and has changed possession over six times since 1995.[3] Due to building code violations, the hotel is in city demolition court; it is considered one of the ten most endangered landmarks in Illinois by the Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois.[13]
The Guyon Hotel was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 9, 1985.[2]