Saving Hotel Fresno

UPDATE: I was recently invited to a site visit by Miguel Arias, Fresno City Council District 3 to see the progress of the restoration/renovation. I was blown away by the amount of care being taken to restore the hotel’s architecture as accurately as possible! Molds of the ornate plasterwork had just arrived that morning. The replicated molds will replace any plasterwork that was not salvageable (see first photo for reference). This is by far one of the largest historic preservation victories Fresno has ever seen! I can’t thank the owners of the hotel and Councilmember Arias enough for including me in this exciting part of the Hotel Fresno’s history.

UPDATE: Framing is going in on the storefronts and original dining room!

The back of the building is being repainted and the famous Hotel Fresno signage is being restored!

The painting rolls on at Hotel Fresno. The North Face. @savinghotelfresno

2021 is slated to be a BIG year for the Hotel Fresno!

Hotel Fresno opened its doors in 1912 on Broadway at Merced Street as Fresno’s finest hostelry. Over the next decade and a half, this seven-story Classical Rev...ival structure served as the center of Fresno’s social life. The Hotel was designed by Edward T. Foulkes, a significant figure in our community’s architectural history. The magnificent lobby of the Hotel Fresno played host to every type of event imaginable from the time it was completed. This January 1917 photograph was taken during one of many automobile shows held annually to launch the latest models. (Pop Laval Foundation)

Happy Thanksgiving!! Flashback to Thanksgiving dinner at the Hotel Fresno in 1925, for The Fresno Bee carriers. (courtesy of Pop Laval Foundation)

Looks like the Hotel Fresno is NOW LEASING ground floor, commercial space! Contact: Jared Ennis Phone: (559)302-8698 Email: [email protected] ... Contact: Kevin Land Phone: (559) 359-4035 Email: [email protected]

Sometimes I purchase artifacts for the collection and forget to share them. In this case, forgot to even open it when it came in the mail LAST YEAR! This fantastic addition to the Hotel Fresno Artifact Collection is a 1940’s menu from the hotel’s Rendezvous Beer Tavern.

Because of Hotel Fresno’s historic designations, both locally and nationally, all the original floor tiles, murals and decorative moldings must be restored or refurbished to be as close to original as possible. Same goes for the building’s layout and circulation even the exterior color.

Progress in Hotel Fresno...more housing coming to Downtown Fresno next summer 2021! Biggest unit is 3bd/2bath and smallest are studios.

Newest addition to the collection, 1930’s photo postcard of the front of the Hotel Fresno

The latest addition to the Hotel Fresno artifact collection, a bottle opener! Thank you to Laurie Little for your generous donation.

The Fresno Historical Society has been forced to close during shelter in place. Please join me in donating to THE organization saving Fresno's history for decades!

If you’d like a piece of the Hotel Fresno, there’s a spoon for sale on eBay! I have a couple spoons in the artifact collection already, and won’t be bidding.

Windows are going in!

Progress on the transformation of the historic 1912 Hotel Fresno

The newest acquisition to the Hotel Fresno artifact collection! A dinner menu from the Hotel Fresno Grill, dated Sunday, January 15, 1950.