King Edward Hotel (Jackson, Mississippi)

Infobox_nrhp2 | name =Edwards Hotel


caption =
location= Jackson, Mississippi
lat_degrees = 32
lat_minutes = 17
lat_seconds = 59
lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 90
long_minutes = 11
long_seconds = 25
long_direction = W
locmapin = Mississippi
area =
built =1923
architect= Nolan, William T.
architecture=
added = November 07, 1976
governing_body = Private
refnum=76001096cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2007-01-23|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service] :for|the King Edward Hotel in Toronto, Canada|King Edward Hotel (Toronto)The King Edward Hotel is a historic hotel in downtown Jackson, Mississippi. The second of two buildings located on the site at the corner of Capitol and Mill Streets, it was closed and vacant for nearly 40 years before renovations began in 2006.

The original hotel on the site was known as the Confederate House, built by "Major" R.O. Edwards. After being destroyed in the Civil War, the hotel was reopened in 1867 as the Edwards House. This structure was replaced in 1923 by the present building, a 12 story beige brick structure, designed in the Beaux-Arts architecture style by New Orleans architect William Nolan. The hotel was the center of Jackson society and politics for over forty years.

A room at the hotel was used by Okeh Records to record a number of important blues sessions in December 1930. [cite news
url=http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/music/comments.php?id=702_0_28_0_C
title=Cotton Is King
author=Steve Cheseborough
date=2003-02-26
publisher=Jackson Free Press
accessdate=2006-12-15]

In 1955, the hotel was purchased by R.E. "Dumas" Milner, a wealthy automobile dealer and businessman. Milner renovated the hotel in the popular modernist style of the day. Many of the original details were obscured in the renovations. The hotel closed in 1967 after years of declining occupancy rates and has remained vacant since. Standard Life bought the building in 1976 and got it placed on the National Register of Historic Places. They sold to private developers for half a million dollars in 1981. ["King Edward Hotel: 'uniquely positioned to take advantage of the new telecom center and future convention center,' says DJP president. Anonymous. The Mississippi Business Journal. Jackson: Aug 26, 2002.Vol.24, Iss. 35; pg. 28] While a number of attempts to restore the building had proven ineffective and demolition of the building continued to be considered by Jackson city leadership [cite news
url=http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/comments.php?id=6797_0_9_0_C
title=Grand Hotel: Does the King Edward Have a Glorious Future?
author=Adam Lynch
date=August 3, 2005
publisher=Jackson Free Press
accessdate=2006-12-15] , a workable plan was finally agreed upon. The former Mayor of Jackson, Harvey Johnson Jr., called the renovation of the hotel the "linchpin" ["sic"] in attempts to revitalize the downtown of the city. ["Renovating King Edward Hotel 'linchpin' to saving downtown Jackson." Jeter, Lynne, Wilbanks. The Mississippi Business Journal. Jackson: Aug 17, 1998.Vol.20, Iss. 33; pg. 22]

As of December 2006, Watkins Partners, New Orleans Saints running back Deuce McAllister and Historic Restoration Inc. of New Orleans have formed a partnership to restore the King Edward. It is expected to reopen its doors as a Hilton Garden Inn in mid-2009 with 186 hotel rooms, 64 luxury apartments, a signature restaurant, bar coffee shop and some retail space. The renovation began in November, 2007 and will be completed in June, 2009, at a cost of $90 million.

H.R.I. and Watkins Partners also plan to renovate the adjacent Standard Life Building into luxury apartments, beginning in 2008 with an anticipated completion in late 2009. [cite news
url=http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061213/NEWS/612130364/1002/NEWS
title=King Ed revamp begins today
author=Kathleen Baydala
publisher=The Clarion-Ledger
date=December 13, 2006
accessdate=2006-12-15]

References

External links

* [http://www.mississippiheritage.com/list99.html#6 Mississippi Heritage Trust – Jackson, MS – King Edward Hotel]
* [http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/MS/Hinds/vacant.html Listing] National Register of Historic Places (as "Edwards Hotel")