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Newspaper Clippings: Pantlind Hotel
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Newspaper Clippings: Pantlind Hotel
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THE FLINT
JOURNAL
A teach
then fol
By CHRIS CHRISTOI
Journal staff writer
Gym teacher Patti 1
plain the constant dizzy
fatigue that nagged he:
gan last fall at Grand ]
Wiles had seen doctors
headaces. But now th
worse.
She broke out in un
Her speech became S
would blur and she wot
classes. Finally, in Dec
glands swelled so much
mended a cancer test.
"He told me I mig
'disease," said the 26-1
and gymnastics coach.
was wrong with me. I've
ly person. I thought I
was going to kill me."
THE MYSTERY un
Wiles learned from do
probably suffered a to
rine. Tests ordered by
school's west campus
that-chlorine had leak
storage room under t
and filtered into other
Wiles' office was ne
Engineering inspec
air circulation in the
Reag
from
From Washington
reports
WASHINGTON
dent Reagan decided
to trim his planned in
JOURNAL PHOTO DANIEL GEARINO
defense spending 01
the next three fiscal
The refurbished Amway Grand Hotel, viewed from the
$13 billion, a figure
end of the Monroe Street Mall
considerably short 0
fice of Management
et Director David A.
Soap, God credited
recommended an
means new, larger (
mestic programs.
Last month, p
in a downtown rescue
chief of staff James
III said the president
pared" to cut defen
for 1983 and 1984 by
old matron that has gotten a new trousseau
to $30 billion, and W
EDITOR'S NOTE: With the
after a $20-million facelifting.
spokesmen have
opening of Flint's Hyatt Regency
THE AMWAY GRAND is the finishing
those figures on a
Hotel less than two months
piece. In Grand Rapids' effort to become
occasions since.
away, a Journal reporter traveled
Michigan's No. 2 convention city, behind
But Saturday, W
to Grand Rapids for the opening
Detroit. Adjacent to the hotel is the city's
of a similar - and to Flint, a
civic and cultural complex, the Grand Cen-
competitive - convention hotel,
ter. Across the river from the hotel is the
the Amway Grand Plaza. Related
new Ford Presidential Museum. Behind
story G1.
the hotel, a 28-story, 300-room addition is
being built.
It makes a nice package. In fact, if the
By DANIEL GEARINO
business of building convention hotels was
Journal staff writer
a horse race, Flint just got beat out of the
GRAND RAPIDS - Pity this poor city.
gate.
Defens
Here it sits in the west of the state,
"I personally think (Amway) saved
away from major league sports, away from
downtown," said a leading Grand Rapids
Detroit's big-city culture, away from all
businessman of the Amway hotel invest-
ment. It. is an opinion shared by many of
paying
the appurtenances of auto-industrial life.
that city's polltical and business leaders -
Here it sits, governed by a bevy of
Amway has become to Grand Rapids what
failu
Dutch burghers whose primary business
the Mott Foundation has been to Flint.
Scanned from Box 1 of the Frederica Pantlind Papers at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
A VINTAGE of DISTINCTION
Five Generations of
LEDYARD DESCENDANTS
Photo by Maurice Curnes La Claire
MRS. GEORGE A. WHINERY
MRS. C. L. LOCKWOOD, JR.
MRS. J. BOYD PANTLIND
MRS. QUEEN L. WONDERLY
Miss KATHERINE PANTLIND WHINERY
W
ILLIAM B. LEDYARD was one of the early
Jessie A. (Mrs. J. Boyd) Pantlind, his granddaughter,
settlers of Grand Rapids coming here in 1858 and
a daughter of Mrs. Moses V. Aldrich who was Mr.
immediately becoming interested in the affairs of the
Ledyard's daughter.
growing community. He established a private bank in
Katherine Pantlind (Mrs. C. L.) Lockwood, Jr.,
1861 and in 1865 assisted in the organization of the City
daughter of Mrs. Pantlind and great granddaughter of
National Bank, forerunner of what is today the National
Mr. Ledyard.
Bank of Grand Rapids. He was associated with this
institution until his death in 1890.
Katherine Pantlind (Mrs. George A.) Whinery,
daughter of the late Fred Z. Pantlind, granddaughter of
The group which is shown here represents five genera-
Mrs. J. B. Pantlind and great-great granddaughter of
tions, all direct descendants of Mr. Ledyard. They are:
Mr. Ledyard, and little Katherine Pantlind Whinery,
daughter of Mrs. Whinery, great granddaughter of Mrs.
Queen L. (Mrs. Joseph H.) Wonderly, daughter of
Pantlind and great-great-great granddaughter of Mr.
Mr. Ledyard.
Ledyard.
The GRAND RAPIDS Mirror
March-April, 1934
15
PantlindHoyel
Before the advent of the automobile and suburb
living, the central business district of a city th
size of Grand Rapids was the hub of many
activities. These included government,
entertainment, commerce, banking, and
professional services. Essential to a thriving
downtown was a healthy hotel business.
By 1890 there were more than forty
hotels that could accommodate over three
G.A.I
thousand people. In those days before mass
communication and speedy transportation, it \
often necessary for commercial and other
visitors to stay in Grand Rapids more than on
day to complete their business.
By no means the first hotel, but certainly the m.
enduring, was the Sweet (Pantlind) Hotel.
In 1868 Martin L. Sweet built his hotel on the
northwest corner of Monroe and Pearl. It was
purchased by J. Boyd Pantlind in 1902, who
quickly turned it into the leading hotel in tow
A "new", completely rebuilt, Pantlind was
finished in 1924. With 750 rooms it became
the host of many conventions, including a
1920's Grand Army of the Republic gathering
With the completion of the Civic Auditorium
across the street, the Pantlind has continued
1
thrive as a regional convention center. The
photographs on this page, from top to botton
were taken in 1910, mid-1920's and 1930.
DADS
BACK
ROOM
The physical structure of the city is a constantly changing mosaic which has a profound
influence on our work and on our leisure-time activities. The decisions of government
officials, businessmen, and social leaders are the driving force which sustains the continual
modification of the urban structures. The result is a pattern of continuity and change that
compels a city to keep recreating itself in a new image to meet the needs of each succeeding
generation of citizens. The central business district, for example, is a mixture of decline and
hopeful signs of a new revitalization.
Despite the fact that downtown Grand Rapids is no longer a center for hotels, due.to the
automobile and decentralization, the Pantlind Hotel carries on in its proud tradition.
Increasingly dependent on the convention trade, this single remaining full-service hotel
continues to be successful. In the photograph above, conventioneers of the Order of the
Eastern Star gather in the lobby of the Pantlind. For those who wish to return to the past
during a lunch hour or for an evening, the Pantlind offers the Back Room Saloon (below left).
Its decor reminds one of an 1890's drinking establishment. The Pantlind also hosts many
banquets each year in its Grand Ballroom and other halls. In the photograph at right below,
Richard VanderVeen, Congressman from Michigan's 5th District, attends a political
fund-raising dinner.
UPSTAIRS
*SALOON
BACK
ROOM
The physical structure of the city is a constantly changing mosaic which has a profound
influence on our work and on our leisure-time activities. The decisions of government
officials, businessmen, and social leaders are the driving force which sustains the continual
modification of the urban structures. The result is a pattern of continuity and change that
compels a city to keep recreating itself in a new image to meet the needs of each succeeding
generation of citizens. The central business district, for example, is a mixture of decline and
hopeful signs of a new revitalization.
Despite the fact that downtown Grand Rapids is no longer a center for hotels, due to the
automobile and decentralization, the Pantlind Hotel carries on in its proud tradition.
Increasingly dependent on the convention trade, this single remaining full-service hotel
continues to be successful. In the photograph above, conventioneers of the Order of the
Eastern Star gather in the lobby of the Pantlind. For those who wish to return to the past
during a lunch hour or for an evening, the Pantlind offers the Back Room Saloon (below left).
Its decor reminds one of an 1890's drinking establishment. The Pantlind also hosts many
banquets each year in its Grand Ballroom and other halls. In the photograph at right below,
Richard VanderVeen, Congressman from Michigan's 5th District, attends a political
fund-raising dinner.
UPSTAIRS
*SALDON
Pantlind Skaff
Hotels and restaurants employed a diversified work force. Substantial
numbers of black workers found employment in downtown restaurants
and hotels, as is apparent in the picture above of the Pantlind
Hotel staff in the 1940's.
Both male and female workers found the newly developed opportunities in
white-collar work to their liking. The 1920's photograph below of a
secretarial school illustrates this increasingly viable alternative to
traditional factory work. Many chose this type of training and employment
as Grand Rapids emerged as a regional center in the economy of
western Michigan.
44
The Grand Rapids Press, Thursday, Sept. 11, 1980
Proud
hotel's
history
relived
The history of the Pantlind Hotel has
been written and rewritten. But it's the
future that's most intriguing now - a fu-
ture of beauty and class promised by new
owners.
Amway Corp. bought the Pantlind two
years ago to create a first-class hotel com-
plex that, combined with the new civic
center, would transform that part of
downtown into a major convention cen-
ter, similar to Detroit's Renaissance Cen-
ter.
Presently, the old Pantlind is undergo-
ing a restoration slated to return the
The old Sweet's Hotel, predecessor to the-Pantlind, was raised four
"grand old lady" to its post-World War I
bring it above the flood level. Rooms went for $2 a day.
elegance.
In addition, Amway has plans to build a
28-story hotel along the river. The hotel,
which will be about twice the height of
McKay Tower, will have a wall of tinted
glass facing the river.
The old and new hotels are to be con-
nected by a large registration area where
Campau Avenue is, between Pearl and
Lyon streets.
"The entry will be a covered motor lob-
by on Peari Street," explains Jack Wilkie,
an Amway spokesman. "All guests will
register in the lobby being built where
Campau Street is."
Plans for the Amway Grand Plaza Ho-
tel, a complex that will include both the
tower and the old hotel, call for two glass-
enclosed skywalks connecting it to the
civic center and to a 750-car parking
ramp being built south of Pearl Street.
The complex also will be connected to the
Exhibitors Building on Lyon Street.
"The interiors will be tied in together,"
says Marvin DeWinter, project architect.
"You could, for example, enter the front
door of the Exhibitors Building on Lyon
and walk all the way through one megas-
tructure."
The site of the old Pantlind has a rich
history.
When Louis Campau first arrived here,
the river was much wider at this spot.
There were four islands. The first stood
about where the new hotel is being built.
The others trailed down the river.
The hotel run by J. Boyd Pantlind, right, and his son, Fred, was knowr
In 1833, Campau sold the land where
out the world as a first-rate establishment.
the Pantlind would one day stand to a
millwright, Luther Lincoln, to build a saw-
mill.
rooms for $2 a day.
The time when J. Boyd Pantl
There was a stipulation to the sale, how-
The grand opening of Sweet's Hotel on
son ran the establishment was
ever. Lincoln had to promise not to sell
Sept. 23, 1869, according to an invitation
of hotel life in Grand Rapids.
the land to one of Campau's competitors,
found a few years ago, featured a grand
Katherine Pantlind Whin
a government surveyor and land specula-
ball with music by "Prof. Thomas' cornet
Pantlind's daughter, rememl
tor by the name of Lucius Lyon.
band."
days fondly. She also remembe
Lincoln started his mill and stuck by his
Five years later, the entire building
grandfather, J. Boyd Pantli
agreement, but a year later, sold the land
was raised four feet when Canal Street
"natty dresser" with tailored :
to Abram Wadsworth, who finished the
was filled in to bring it above flood level.
by white percale, spats, a bow
mill. Wadsworth, in turn, promptly sold
Hundreds of jack screws were placed on
glasses attached to a grosgrair
the parcel to Lyon, engendering Cam-
the foundation and turned at the signal of
An avid collector with dozer
pau's wrath.
a whistle.
of memorabilia from the ol
The sawmill was washed away a few
During the four days it took to raise the
Whinery lives in East Grand I
years later in the flood of 1838.
building, the hotel operated normally.
her husband, George Whinery
By 1852 there was a warehouse on the
Not a dish was broken.
She is the oldest living desc
spot and Daniel Ball, a banker who rose to
Sweet's name lasted until 1902. An
Boyd Pantlind and, at 70, refei
the heights of wealth and success only to
Ohio-born businessman of Scottish ances-
as "the matriarch of the Pantli
die in poverty, bought the property and
try, J. Boyd Pantlind, had bought the busi-
"He was the most vivid char
erected a bank there in 1859.
ness in 1898. He finally renamed it after
knew," she says of her grar
Two years later, Martin L. Sweet, a
his uncle, A. Vorhis Pantlind.
was the first grandchild and I
New York native who made a fortune
A few years later, with the furniture
special treatment.
here in the grain business, bought the
industry dominating downtown Grand
"He was a great horsem
bank and ran it as a very successful enter-
Rapids, a group of Grand Rapids busi-
bought me my first pony. He
prise.
nessmen formed the Pantlind Hotel
pride in my riding."
In 1868, Sweet branched out into the
Building Co. and erected the present ho-
Whinery recalls that her
hotel business. He closed the bank and
tel.
was short, "rather round,"
filled in the river between the shoreline
J. Boyd Pantlind was made manager
kling brown eyes." He was 8
and Island Number One.
and, during his reign and that of his son
story teller with a gift for usi
On this newly created land, he erected
Fred, the hotel was known throughout the
"He always had a smile an
four-story hotel around the bank and let
world as a first-rate establishment.
ous sense of humor," she say:
The Grand Rapids Press, Thursday, Sept. 11, 1980
45
Pantlind
watching wide-eyed from front row seats
Fuller Avenue NE, about where Kent
happy opinion of Grand Rapids than any
on the hotel's balcony overlooking Mon-
Community Hospital is, and Ellis com-
other single citizen who ever gave it the
roe Avenue," Whinery says. "What excite-
plained that the Pantlind should be turn-
benefits of a long and fruitful career."
Continued
ment - clowns, elephants and bands and
ing the hotel's garbage over for city use.
After the Pantlinds died, the hotel
bareback riders, and the calliope bring-
Pantlind refused and the entire matter
passed into other hands. It was owned by
lind came during Prohibition. That was
ing up the rear."
ended up in court where Pantlind lost his
Jack, Ted and Charles Roberts when Am-
not an easy period for the hotel or its
The elder Pantlind had a 250-acre farm
case.
way bought it.
owners. Tony, the bartender, became
where Woodlawn Cemetery on Kalama-
"J. Boyd always felt he'd been shafted,"
When the hotel closed last year, it
Tony, the soda jerk.
zoo Avenue SE is today. Pantlind would
Whinery says.
boasted a long list of dignitaries and ce-
"Granddad used to say, 'You lose mon-
feed his pigs from the hotel's garbage.
J. Boyd Pantlind died Christmas Day,
lebrities who'd stayed there, including
ey on the food and make it on the liquor.'
This profitable arrangement lasted un-
1922. When recalling his death, Whinery
William Jennings Bryan, Babe Ruth,
One of the more exciting times for a
til the city's mayor of the time, George
refers to a newspaper article that ap-
James Cagney, Queen Juliana of the
child in the Pantlind came whenever a
Ellis, complained that the city was being
peared in the old Grand Rapids Herald,
Netherlands, Boris Karloff, Spencer Tra-
circus arrived in town.
shortchanged.
that stated:
cy, John and Robert Kennedy and, of
"When there was a parade, we'd be
The city maintained its own piggery on
"He contributed more to the nation's
course, President Gerald R. Ford.
People Are Saying
CITIZENS INDUST
Downtown Just Isn't
Like the Old Days
M
A
Y
S