Wright on the Park

“The thing always happens that you really believe in; and the belief in a thing makes it happen.�

Frank Lloyd Wright

The Historic Park Inn Hotel

Celebrates Grand Opening

101 years

after its first Grand Opening September 10, 1910, The Historic Park Inn Hotel is ready to serve Mason City and its guests once again. Designed by worldfamous architect Frank Lloyd Wright and now under the ownership and direction of the local nonprofit organization Wright on the Park (WOTP), the building has been restored to its original exterior design with the interior renovated into a 27-room hotel and conference center managed by Historic Park Inn Partners, LLC. The Grand Opening is scheduled for September 5-11.

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Thursday, August 25, 2011

Inside . . .

Events details Hotel history Frank Lloyd Wright Wright on the Park Poster by Taliesin Fellow

Schedule of Activities Monday - Sept. 5 - Free tours of hotel, answers to questions, free family activities and music in Central Park, food vendors 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Tuesday - Sept. 6 - Ladies’ Teas in the hotel’s Ladies Parlor.

10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.

Wednesday - Sept. 7 - Ladies’ Teas in the hotel’s Ladies Parlor 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.

Thursday - Sept. 8 - Ladies’ Teas in the hotel’s Ladies Parlor.

10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.

Saturday - Sept. 10 - NIACC Leadership Series presents Nancy Horan, author of Loving Frank, 1 p.m., NIACC Auditorium.

Saturday - Sept. 10 Skylight Ball 6 p.m. to midnight. The Historic Park Inn Hotel Ballroom.

Sunday - Sept. 11 - 2 p.m.

Architect Jonathan Lipman, past president of The Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy.

Hotel Ballroom. Guest speaker.

Free to the public.

Mason City Architectural Center Thurs., Fri., Sat. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. with Stockman House tours on the hour from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sun. hours 1-5 p.m. with tours on the hour from 1-4.

Prairie School Walking Tour Rock Crest/Rock Glen Slide show with tour Groups of ten or more $5 per person Must be arranged two weeks or more in advance by calling MacNider Art Museum Linda Johnson 641-421-3666 Mason City Community Theatre “Work Song - Three Views of Frank Lloyd Wright.” Sept. 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 17 - 7 p.m.; Sept. 11 - 2 p.m.

2 Wright on the Park

From 1910 to 2011 Building after the 1926 remodel.

Historic site sees many changes In the early 1900s, Mason City was booming. Attorneys James Blythe and J.E.E. Markley were among those spearheading growth. Serving on the board of the City National Bank, they saw the opportunity to meet multiple needs with one plan. A new building could provide a home for the bank, new offices for their firm, a much-needed hotel and a replacement for the old eye-sores on the corner of State and Federal, the hub of downtown.

At the time, Markley’s two daughters attended Hillside Home School in Spring Green, Wisc. The school boasted a beautiful building designed for the sisters who ran it by their nephew, Frank Lloyd Wright.

With his innovative Prairie School designs drawing considerable attention, Wright was well-established in Oak Park, Ill. Markley suggested the Chicago architect for the project.

Wright undertook the design, completing it before autumn of 1909 when he went to Europe. Wright left the rest of the construction management to his Oak Park associate William Drummond.

Fortunately, Drummond saw the

Thursday, August 25, 2011

building completed to Wright’s original design and it opened to the public in September of 1910. Its design was featured that same year in The Wasmuth Portfolio of Wright’s work.

Both the hotel and the bank generated wide acclaim; however, no one could have imagined how quickly change would come. The new decade brought the farm crisis and the failure of banks across Iowa. The City National Bank was forced into bankruptcy.

1926 remodel altered building Remodeling done in 1926 by the new owners enabled the building to serve the city for years as retail and office space. Still, it drastically changed the look and unity as display windows replaced brick walls and a second floor was added.

Blythe and Markley also left their law offices to move to the Brick and Tile Building. They continued to own the hotel section of the building for a number of years but its European style yielded to the more modern.

Over the years, the bank served a

variety of retailers and offices. The last to vacate was Moorman Clothiers.

The hotel steadily declined until it was a fifth-rate establishment at best.

Restaurants and bars continued to operate on the first floor for most of the hotel’s life.

Finally, in an attempt to save the building, the hotel was turned into apartments, but maintaining it proved too costly and soon pigeons and cobwebs took over.

Meanwhile, a local group focused on how to save the landmark and instigated its placement on the National Register of Historic Places. Various efforts followed, but it wasn’t until 2005 that Wright on the Park formed to take on the project. In 2007 the non-profit group also purchased the bank.

Some work began earlier; then after major fund-raising efforts, construction bids were taken last fall.

WOTP’s work now enables The Historic Park Inn Hotel to gracefully fulfill its place as the last standing hotel designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

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Music, family events in park Wright on the Park has something for everyone in store for Labor Day, September 5, in Central Park.

Family activities will include an architectural treasure hunt, learning building design with blocks and straws, designing a family dream home, and coloring Wright’s designs or 1910 fashions.

WOTP board members and docents will supervise these events.

A community picnic will also be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. to begin the week-long Grand Opening festivities.

Mick Baker, one of the volunteer organizers of the activities, explains, “We have planned for local restaurants to sell some of their finest foods for you.

Each will be setting up within the park.

Then, while you are enjoying your picnic, area musicians will be performing at intervals on the perimeter of the park with vocal and instrumental selections.

This will include gospel, light country, ethnic, Christian and selected numbers from the past 100 years,” says Mick.

Picnic tables will be readily available, but Mick encourages everyone to bring lawn chairs.

WOTP offers free public tours

WOTP board members, volunteers and docents will be on hand Monday, Sept. 5, from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. to answer the public’s questions, provide information about The Historic Park Inn Hotel, and conduct tours of the hotel.

Tours will begin in the SE corner of the park and be led by newlytrained volunteer docents and board members.

Regular tours scheduled for hotel

Lucas Reidel, son of Mr. and Mrs. Dennis Reidel, tried out his drawing and design skills last September at the WOTP sponsored family activities in East Park. During the Grand Opening week, the Monday activities in Central Park will again feature drawing design among the events.

After the Grand Opening, regular docent-led tours will be given on Thursdays and Fridays at 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Sunday tours will be given at 1:30 and 2:30 p.m.

The tours will last approximately 45 minutes and will cost $5 per person. Included on the tours will be the public areas of the hotel but not those private areas being used by hotel guests.

To tour The Historic Park Inn Hotel on other days or times or for groups of ten or more, Wright on the Park asks that reservations be made at least two weeks in advance. Every effort will be made to accommodate specific tour requests.

In the past, WOTP offered tours to the public on special occasions; however, tours were curtailed during the major construction phase for safety reasons and to avoid hindering the ongoing work.

Still, Wright fans visiting Mason City have continued to stop to see the building and have occasionally been able to enjoy an impromptu tour of the exterior.

WOTP will also work with city and area tourism representatives to arrange tours for bus groups and other visitors to the city.

Continual phone calls, e-mails, letters and visitors indicate the interest in the building is there and that The Historic Park Inn Hotel will be as popular as other Frank Lloyd Wright sites.

Lobby art glass honors Martha Huntington The ten beautiful art-glass panels that frame the front desk of The Historic Park Inn Hotel have been placed on the naming-rights list in honor of Martha Huntington, the architect who headed the project for the Bergland and Cram firm.

The WOTP Board of Directors chose this memorial to Martha, who had been a board member and worked on the project for over 12 years. A plaque in her memory will also be placed in the hotel.

Martha’s death July 15, barely a month before the Grand Opening, was a difficult blow for everyone who worked with her on the hotel.

Martha’s talent, commitment and love of the project leave her mark indelibly imprinted on the restoration of the building and on many of the interior elements that make it a treasure.

Wright’s art-glass window, door, and skylight panel designs throughout the building make a large contribution to The Historic Park Inn’s appeal. Naming rights are generally awarded to the larger donors to the project.

Martha’s impact on the entire building is certainly one of the most important, and as WOTP Executive Director Ann MacGregor has said, “Her spirit will always be here.”

Martha Huntington, The Historic Park Inn Hotel’s project architect and a vicepresident with the Bergland and Cram Architectural firm died Friday, July 15, of cancer. The daughter of Robert Huntington and the late Mary Jane Huntington, Martha lived in Clear Lake. She also served on the Clear Lake Community School Foundation Board and was a member of the Clear Lake Methodist Church.

Among her other local designs are the Clear Lake Arts Center and the Clear Lake High School building addition.

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Wright on the Park

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WOTP plans 2 receptions in hotel WOTP is hosting two invitation- only special events at The Historic Park Inn Hotel.

Civic and business leaders in the community have been invited to a reception on Thursday, Sept. 8, at 4:30 p.m.

Appetizers and beverages will be served; and at approximately 6 p.m., there will be brief remarks by various officials involved with the project.

On Friday, Sept. 9, at 5 p.m. major

donors will attend a special reception honoring their support. In addition, state and federal officials have been invited.

The official ribbon cutting will be at 6 p.m. with remarks to follow by various individuals. Special music for the Friday evening event will be provided by the Legato Duo of classical guitarist Ric Larsen and oboist Lisa Godlewski.

Refreshments and beverages will be served.

Teas instant sell-out Inspired by the Ladies Parlor and balcony as well as a 1910 advertisement card from the City National Bank, Wright on the Park will host a series of ladies’ teas at The Historic Park Inn Hotel September 6-8.

Serving tea and refreshments in the parlor, WOTP will also present a program on women in Mason City in 1910, the year the hotel originally opened.

“The parlor with its French doors facing the park and its unique balcony provides the perfect setting for this event,” explains WOTP Executive Director, Ann MacGregor.

Period style furnishings enhance the room, which adjoins the sample room.

In 1910, traveling salesmen used this area to display their wares to the local women and hotel guests. Today the room provides additional space for meetings, luncheons, or other activities.

Pat Schultz, WOTP board member, will present the program. In period costume and speaking as a woman of 1910, she will gossip with guests about the community, her friends and neighbors, prominent citizens, fashion trends, grocery prices, and “current” events. “Researching this has been so much fun,” she says. “I had this dismal picture in mind of women of the time in their uncomfortable corsets stumbling over their long skirts as they drudged away at housework, sewing, and cooking.”

As the real picture emerged from old newspaper articles, books, and club

minutes found at the Mason City Public Library and on-line sources, Schultz soon changed her attitude.

“Local women were involved in so many things, even state and national organizations. They had an amazing impact on the town and what was happening here and were into women’s rights.”

Once the invitations to the six teas, each accommodating 20 guests, were sent out to area women’s groups, all six were reserved within days. “It seems we may have to plan more of these to meet the demand,” says MacGregor, “since some groups were unable to schedule once the teas were full. Isn’t that a wonderful predictor of the success of this hotel!”

The teas are scheduled for 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. each of the three days.

1910 advertising art for the bank.

Hotel rooms for the night of Sept. 10 will be auctioned online. Room 300, the Honeymoon Suite, boasts a beautiful view of the park. On the headboards in most of the rooms, reproduction Robie House lights like the one pictured here have been installed.

Unique items among auction opportunities During the Skylight Ball on Saturday, Sept. 10, a live auction will raise funds to help WOTP achieve its ongoing mission. Among the items included will be: • A reproduction of the Midway Sprite sculpture by Alfonso Ianelli.

• Two Wright barrel chairs like those designed for the original bank.

• Art-glass pieces by Clear Lake artisan John Larsen.

• A wine-tasting party for 10 in the hotel Wine Room, including transportation in the hotel’s limousine.

• Five photos by the winners of the WOTP Prairie School photo contest.

• Cocktail party for 20 in the Skylight Room.

• Specially designed necklace by Dan Grunwald.

• Dinner for 8 in the Wine Room, including limousine transportation.

• Two numbered, signed artist prints of the poster designed by Taliesin Fellow John Amarantides for the Grand Opening.

The proceeds from an earlier auc-

tion are also going to WOTP’s efforts to preserve, maintain and educate the public about the hotel. Because the hotel has only 27 rooms, it was difficult deciding who would have those rooms for the Grand Opening night. Historic Park Inn Partners, the hotel management company, offered to do an online auction for the rooms.

The 27 rooms include the Premier King Suite, complete with a whirlpool tub, art-glass windows with a view of the park, and Robie House reproduction lamps. The Historic Suite is the in original 10 x 10 configuration Wright designed. The adjoining bathroom, complete with the original claw-foot tub, connects to a sitting room to create the suite instead of to another hotel room. All of the other rooms have been renovated to create the space and amenities contemporary guests expect. “Every room is beautiful,” says Ann MacGregor. “I think everyone who was lucky enough to have a winning bid will be glad to be there.”

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Hotel aglow for Skylight Ball Food, music, dancing, live auction in ballroom Picture September 10, 1910! The Roadster drives up, the car doors open, ladies step out holding up their ball gowns. The gentlemen tip their hats and all enter the Park Inn Hotel. It is the Grand Opening event for the new Frank Lloyd Wright designed hotel. It is a once in a lifetime experience!

Fast forward to September 10, 2011. Another Grand Opening event, 101 years later. 300 people arrive in formal attire ready to celebrate the historic reopening of the same hotel. The very last Frank Lloyd Wright hotel in the entire world has been completely renovated and reopened as The Historic Park Inn Hotel in Mason City, Iowa.

If Frank could see it now!!!! He, too, would be dancing under the skylight, sipping a martini, eating hors d’oeuvres and relishing the historic preservation of his design. This will be a one of a kind celebration.

The hotel has been restored to the original footprint with historic attention given to each and every detail. The guest rooms are exquisite, the skylights -amazing. Billiards’ Room, Ladies Parlor, Law

Library, restaurant, lobby, all are preserved with the ambience of the original designs but with the conveniences of today’s upscale hotels.

The Grand Opening—The Skylight Ball--will be the culmination of years of fund raising, grant writing and painstaking restoration. It is a celebration for all who relish the preservation of history, art and architecture. It is a celebration of a vision. It is a celebration of many people coming together to take this project from conception to fruition for the benefit of all.

Only 300 tickets will be sold to the Saturday September 10 event. The festivities will begin at 6 p.m. in the Historic Park Inn Hotel Ballroom. Dancing will be to the music provided by Ken Schneider with a live auction of unique Prairie School items. Guests will be able to enjoy cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, dancing, sitting in the parlor or law library and catching an insider’s glimpse at the entire renovated hotel.

This is truly a once in a lifetime event.

Poster salutes opening Support for The Historic Park Inn Hotel is local, national and even international!

John Amarantides, a former Taliesin Fellow now living in Greece has donated his skill as a graphic designer, architect, and Wright associate by designing a poster saluting the Grand Opening of the hotel.

The limited edition, signed poster reflects Wright’s window designs for the building and will be offered for sale, debuting at the Skylight Ball. Proceeds will support the continuing work of WOTP.

Raffle features David Lee one-of-a-kind bracelet David Lee has designed a one-of-a-kind bracelet based on Wright’s art glass in the hotel.

Those who attend the Skylight Ball will have the opportunity to purchase raffle tickets for $20.

At the end of the evening, the winning ticket will be drawn.

Lee’s contribution to the fund raiser is indicative of the support WOTP has received. For the live auction at the ball, John Larsen has given art glass and Dan Grunwald, who also designed a necklace for last year’s gala, has created another for this year’s events.

“The generosity of our supporters means so much,” says Ann MacGregor, WOTP Executive Director. “They are an essential key to our success.”

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Thursday, August 25, 2011

John Henry will reprise his appearance as Frank Lloyd Wright at the Sept. 10 Skylight Ball. “Frank” first appeared at last year’s gala.

Volunteers make it happen Enthusiastic individuals have stepped forward to plan special events, including last year’s centennial celebration and this year’s Grand Opening. Volunteers also serve on the education and fund-raising standing committees and as docents who lead tours of The Historic Park Inn Hotel and assist with various activities. “Thank you” says Executive Director Ann MacGregor, “is hardly adequate to express our gratitude to these people for all that they do.”

Current volunteers include Sue Armour, Mick Baker, Elliot Blackburn, Helen Blackburn, Scott Borcherding, Joe Buttweiler, Jim Collison, Teri Elsbury, Denise Funk, Liz Gales, Dean Genth, Alice Hanley, Joanne Hardinger, Sharon Hays, Frances Hoffman, Martha Huntington, Kathy Kinsey, Sharon Lindgren, Sharon Meyer, Susan Moorman, Susan Nagle, Steve Noto, Cathy Swager, Dana Thomas, Kathy Van Dike, Barb Wells, and Linda Willeke.

Anyone interested in volunteering can contact WOTP at 641-423-0689.

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Free Lipman lecture Sunday Jonathan Lipman, a WOTP Honorary Board member, will be the featured speaker at 2 p.m. on September 11 at the ballroom. His lecture will be free and open to the public.

Mr. Lipman is a past president of the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy and has done historic preservation work on some of the nation’s most distinguished landmarks. Lipman has done more consulting work for the National Trust for Historic Preservation than any other architect. He has spent the last decade designing buildings according to the principles of

Maharishi Vedic architecture in his work.

Peggy Bang, WOTP board member, first met Lipman during the summer of 1990 when he and his business partner Cooper Norman consulted on the Park Inn hotel.

They dropped by the Stockman house for a tour and soon offered to help with its restoration. Two weekends later they gave the RCSHP group a crash course on how to apply the Secretary of the Interiors’ restoration standards to their project.

They urged the group to apply for a HRDP grant to replace the sagging roofs and

Author of “Loving Frank” part of NIACC series Nancy Horan will speak at NIACC on Saturday, Sept. 10, at 1 p.m. as part of the leadership series.

One would not readily know Loving Frank is the debut novel for Nancy Horan. The development of this historical novel is based upon seven years of meticulous research.

Horan lived in Oak Park for 24 years touring and walking past Prairie Style homes designed by Wright as her idea took form. In the novel she gives the reader a glimpse into the complex personality of Mamah Cheney, the wife of a Wright client, who until this book had been relegated to a footnote in history.

Horan presents Cheney as a college educated intellectual, mother, wife, and lover who struggles to have it all. She becomes the English transcriptionist for her mentor Ellen Key, a Swedish feminist philosopher whose teachings on free love, the social value of motherhood with or without marriage and the need for divorce reforms are quite controversial.

Her liberating ideas and raw passion combine as Mamah falls madly in love with Frank Lloyd Wright and he with her. To be together, they leave their socially confining families in 1909 to travel to Europe. This was after the City National Bank and Park Inn Hotel had been started but before its completion.

William Drummond, an architect from

Wright’s office, finished that task.

The rest of the book fictionalizes the shocking ending to Mamah’s story.

NIACC’s Liz Gales worked for a couple of years with Random House before she was able to contract Nancy Horan for the leadership series. How rare it is that Horan will be speaking and then signing books here in Mason City during the Grand Opening weekend celebrating the restoration of Wright’s only remaining hotel in the world.

Liz summarized her reaction after reading Loving Frank, “I thought the book was terrific and extremely well written. I think everyone in North Iowa should read this book. Because we live with Wright’s last remaining hotel, this book will be more meaningful to us and will give an insight into the life of Frank Lloyd Wright like no other.”

Tickets go on sale August 8 through the NIACC Business Office for $20 or can be purchased at the door for $25.

Nancy Horan, author of Loving Frank, will speak Sept.

10 as part of NIACC’s leadership series.

suggested experts who could analyze the historic paint colors. All this was done for a token $1.00 per year.

Later in 1994, Peggy and her husband Roger hired them to help generate an overall plan for the restoration of their Melson House. Lipman made another trip to Mason City in 1999 when he spoke to the Mason City City Council lobbying it to seize the opportunity to support Heartland Properties to restore the former Park Inn hotel. “Can you imagine if the Park Inn was a great work by Picasso? How you would feel about preserving it? Well, it is. It

is the exact equivalent.” (Globe Gazette 3/3/99) “Now this dream has become a reality,” says Peggy. “Having Jonathan Lipman address us is a great way to cap off our Grand Opening festivities.”

Noted architect Jonathan Lipman will speak on September 11.

Questions answered:

The Historic Park Inn Hotel is last standing hotel by Wright Frank Lloyd Wright designed six hotels during his career: The Historic Park Inn Hotel is the only one still remaining. William Allin Storrer, author of The Frank Lloyd Wright Companion, identifies the other five as the Horseshoe Inn, 1908, Estes Park, Colorado; the Como Orchard Clubhouse (Inn), 1908, Montana; the Bitterroot Inn, 1908, Montana; the Lake Geneva Hotel, 1911, Wisconsin. In his online Frank Lloyd Wright Update, Storrer establishes that the Horseshoe Inn designed

by Wright was never built.

The two Montana designs set in the once-booming apple orchards had short success due to economic circumstances. The Como Orchard Clubhouse was part of a complex including a number of small cottages while the Bitter Root Inn was the only element of Wright’s Bitter Root Village concept that ever actually materialized. The Bitter Root Inn was destroyed by fire in 1924 and the Clubhouse is long gone as well.

The Lake Geneva Hotel, like The Historic Park Inn Hotel, included an elaborate skylight with art-glass panels. It existed into the 1960s when it was razed.

Perhaps the best-known of the hotels was the Imperial, designed in Tokyo at the request of the Japanese emperor. Although it withstood the major earthquake there, it too was finally razed. A portion of it was preserved and moved to another location.

What about the Arizona Biltmore Hotel, often heralded as a Wright design? Its architect of record is Albert Chase McArthur whose father had been a Wright client in Chicago. In 1929, Wright was a “consultant” for the project. According to Storrer, McArthur’s other work as an architect plus the design of the building indicate Wright probably took McArthur’s original basic layout and designed the building. However, after Wright left McArthur made some critical changes.

The Biltmore continues to list McArthur as the architect; but it’s likely much of the design was Wright’s.

Locally, the argument has also surfaced that The Historic Park Inn Hotel was largely the work of William Drummond, Wright’s on-site supervisor for the project. While it is true Wright left for Europe before the building was done and Drummond remained, examination of the drawings for it included in the Wasmuth Portfolio establish that it was completed in accord with Wright’s plans.

So indeed, The Historic Park Inn Hotel is the last standing hotel wholly designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

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Legacy worth preserving “Why preserve this building?” “Who cares, anyway?” Experts have claimed other cities would “kill to have this in their communities.” The hope is that Wright fans from around the world as well as those who are just learning about his work will come to Mason City to see and stay in the last standing hotel in the world designed by him. People flock to other Wright-designed buildings and pay premium prices to stay in once-private homes designed by him. With the support of the entire community, this can happen in Mason City as well.

While most people have at least heard Frank Lloyd Wright’s name in passing, some still ask “Why all the fuss about a long-dead architect?” or “Why spend so much money to preserve a 100-year-old relic?”

A little research quickly establishes an answer. Google “Frank Lloyd Wright” and over 9 million sites are available.

Pull up Amazon books and 800 paperbacks and 700 hardback books dating right up to the present are listed.

“Greatest of 20th century” David Jameson of ArchiTech Gallery sums up Wright’s status: “Frank Lloyd Wright continues to be recognized as the greatest architect of the Twentieth Century. His seventy-two-year career was punctuated with worldwide fame, hostile derision and artistic triumphs.

Wright’s acknowledged masterpieces outnumber the entire output of all but a few architects. And the complete body of his work is so vast that historians now summarize his career into three ‘Golden Ages’.”

What elevated Wright to this status?

What is it that makes his work continue

to appeal to so many? Why is he still studied in architectural schools across the world?

Wright started his career heavily influenced by his work with Chicago architect Louis Sullivan, still regarded as the Father of the Skyscraper and American Modernism in architecture.

Wright soon moved beyond this fortunate association to develop and expand his mentor’s ideas, including the nowfamous “form follows function” credo.

The central thrust of both men was to create a uniquely American architecture that fit the landscape, the personality and the lifestyle of the country as well as the function of each building.

Midwest setting played key role in designs, development of style Initially, Wright’s “landscape” was the Midwest, thus “Prairie School” developed from his ground-breaking designs.

A 2010 article in Contemporary Architecture (Sreekanth) describes the primary elements of Wright’s early work: innovative structural systems, horizontally fitting the landscape, wide use of cantilevers, fluidity of interior

Frank Lloyd Wright designed the Mason City Stockman House in 1908 in typical Prairie School style.

12 Wright on the Park

Thursday, August 25, 2011

spaces, and the concept of “organic” architecture. The latter is defined in many ways, but primarily it references architecture which fits into its natural surroundings and uses natural materials in its construction.

More than that, it provides a setting which connects life to nature and enhances and beautifies living.

Wright “broke the box” of the traditional four-square house with its division into separate rooms, high roof lines, and windows staring out like eyes. Instead, his low cantilevered roofs sat over ribbons of windows, often with beautiful art-glass designs or mullions set into them. Windows and French doors brought the outside in; entrances were de-emphasized; and porches or verandas were private. The furniture inside, including many builtins, matched the design concept of the home and added to its harmony.

Of course, Wright didn’t concentrate only on houses. Churches, hotels, banks, and more bore the mark of “Prairie School” as his reputation and the demand for his work grew.

With the publication of the Wasmuth Portfolio in 1910, his ideas soon influenced the fledgling European Modernists and ultimately architecture around the world. The Chicago architects with whom he shared ideas and goals (Walter Burley Griffin, William Drummond, Barry Byrne, etc.) all added to the development of a uniquely American architectural style independent of the bygone styles of Europe.

Certainly, Wright himself had outside influences, Sullivan’s work primary among them. For example, he studied Japanese art and architecture, and the ancient forms of the Mayans are also recognizable in some of his work. He made use of the ideas generated by the young architects in his Chicago studio.

Yet his work always remained unique and vital.

Wright’s career did not end with

Frank Lloyd Wright

“Prairie School” but continued to develop and evolve up to his death. To capture the totality is the subject of hundreds of books.

The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation acknowledges 1,141 works designed by Wright. Of those designed, 532 were completed. Among the most famous of these are Unity Temple, Fallingwater, Tokyo’s Imperial Hotel, Midway Gardens, and the Johnson Wax Building, to mention only a few. He also designed a wide variety of furniture, lamps, windows, linens and even dinnerware for his buildings. His systems for heating and cooling and structural elements were often firsts that would be refined and developed into what we use today.

Wright once wrote, “The longer I live the more beautiful life becomes. If you foolishly ignore beauty, you will soon find yourself without it. Your life will be impoverished. But if you invest in beauty, it will remain with you all the days of your life.”

Investing in the preservation of the works of Frank Lloyd Wright will bring beauty into the lives of countless people for years to come.

Barrel chairs back in building In 1911, Architectural Digest carried an article about the City National Bank and Park Inn Hotel. Among the pictures they published was one of the bank directors’ room, complete with the table and eight barrel chairs Frank Lloyd Wright designed for it.

The original chairs have long since disappeared, but this photo plus Wright’s detailed plans for the chairs made it possible for Wright on the Park to have them reproduced by Copeland Furniture. Six have been placed in various locations in the renovated hotel, and two will be auctioned at the Skylight Ball on September 10 as part of the Grand Opening.

Copeland has featured the production of the chairs on their website where they describe creating a “virtual” chair to match the original drawing and the photo. Their CAD program generated elevations and a plan view and even a 3D rendering “complete with shadows and textures” that could be compared to the historical photo.

Copeland is also building barrel chair reproductions based on Wright’s design for the 1936 home of Herbert Johnson, Wingspread. Wright often designed many of the interior furnishings, windows, and built-ins for his buildings. Wingspread, located near Racine, Wisconsin, was built in 1909, just prior to the completion of the Mason City building.

Reproductions of Wright’s designs are popular items in gift shops and museums around the country. Art glass panels, tiles, dishes, ties, placemats and jewelry are based on his Water lilies, Coonley Playhouse, Tree of Life, and Saguaro windows. Others include lamps and lights he designed for Taliesin, Taliesin West and the Robie House. Reproductions of the barrel chairs Wright designed for Taliesin sell for $1300 to $1900 each. Some of these items are offered at the gift shop in Mason City’s new Architectural Interpretive Center near the Wrightdesigned Stockman House.

The mezzanine of the hotel had been removed years ago. It was reconstructed based on Wright’s drawings. Now it houses a lounge area and a baby grand piano on a luxurious carpet based on Wright’s window designs. The barrel chair is also based on a Wright design. In the background of the photo above, original stair railings are visible. These have been restored by removing layers of paint and refinishing.

MS-44266

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Wright on the Park

13

THE NIACC LEADERSHIP SERIES Proud to be a part of the Historic Park Inn Hotel Grand Opening.

“I have been standing on the side of life, watching it float by.

I want to swim in the river. I want to feel the current.”

- Mamah Borthwick Cheney

Nancy Horan, is the author of Loving Frank, a novel about Mamah Borthwick Cheney and her relationship with the architect Frank Lloyd Wright. In Loving Frank, fact and fiction blend together brilliantly. While scholars have largely relegated Mamah to a footnote in the life of America’s greatest architect, author Nancy Horan gives full weight to their dramatic love story and illuminates Cheney’s profound influence on Wright. Mamah’s is an unforgettable journey marked by choices that reshape her notions of love and responsibility, leading inexorably to this novel’s stunning conclusion.

MS-44685

Saturday, September 10, 2011 1:00 p.m. • Tickets $20 ($25 at the door)

© Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. #0902.042

The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation congratulates Wright on the Park for their outstanding efforts in renovating the Historic Park Inn Hotel, designed

by Frank Lloyd Wright and originally designated as the City National Bank and Hotel.

It was a pleasure to work with the Wright on the Park board and staff on this important project.

www.franklloydwright.org

14 Wright on the Park

MS-47411

Thursday, August 25, 2011

For tickets call the NIACC Box Office 641-422-4188 or visit www.niacc.edu/calevents/

MS-44676

Tickets available now

Skylight ball highlight of week Music by Ken Schneider Dancing, Socializing, Live Auction Beverages and Refreshments formal attire 6 p.m. to midnight September 10, 2011 all in the atmosphere of THE HISTORIC PARK INN HOTEL The last standing hotel in the world designed by Frank Lloyd Wright

Tickets - $101 per person

at Moorman’s Clothing and the Wright on the Park office Ticket stubs entitle holders to a 10% discount on a hotel room through Dec. 2012 and each ticket holder will be entered into a drawing for a night’s stay in the Historic Suite of the hotel.

Taliesin Fellow designs poster for opening John Amarantides, a former member of the Taliesin Fellowship, has designed a poster for the Skylight Ball. Since he now lives in Greece, WOTP board president Jean Marinos and her husband Jim were able to meet and talk with him on one of their stays there. His interest in The Historic Park Inn Hotel project led to his agreement to do the design.

Professor John Amarantides was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan.

He attended the Detroit Conservatory of Music, majoring in violin. He also attended the Lawrence Institute of Technology, where he organized a group of fellow architectural students and invited Frank Lloyd Wright to come to Detroit and give a lecture, to “Talk to the boys,” as Wright told it.

During that visit in May of 1951, Wright learned than John was a violinist and asked him to come to Taliesin and play. Wright said, “If you can be

an architect the way you can play the violin, you are welcome here.”

John was admitted into the Fellowship, working with Wright until Wright’s death in 1959. He remained an active senior associate of the organization Wright left behind, the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, at both Taliesin and Taliesin West until 1973 when he married and moved to Athens, Greece.

In all the years at Taliesin, he was engaged as graphic designer, photographer, chef, Director of Music, and participated in other activities as well as being an architect.

To this day, JohnA, as Wright named him, remains closely associated with the Foundation. often doing projects for them.

The Foundation continues to maintain an architectural school at Taliesin West in Scottsdale, Arizona, where Wright lived and worked throughout the latter part of his career.

John Amarantides, far right foreground, is pictured with other members of the Fellowship as they work with Wright at Taliesin. After Wright’s death, Amarantides, graphic artist, musician and architect, continued at the FLW Foundation until 1973.

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Wright on the Park

15

Board offers varied expertise The volunteer board of directors of WOTP oversees the ownership, preservation, and maintenance of The Historic Park Inn Hotel as well as providing educational programming about the building, its architect, and Prairie School architecture.

Executive Director, Board Secretary. Ann MacGregor. Civic activist and volunteer; retired founding Executive Director of Hospice of North Iowa.

President. Jean Marinos, former Mason City Community School Board President, former Mayor of Mason City, owner/manager of American Realty & Management, Inc. Vice-President. Robert Kinsey III. Attorney. River City Society of Historical Preservation Board of Directors; Central Gardens Board of Directors, Stockman House Committee.

Treasurer. Dennis Reidel. President of Mason City Overhead Door and Midwest Roofing Company. Former President, Mason City Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors.

Past president. Peggy Bang. Past chair Mason City Historic Preservation Commission, co-chair Stockman House Restoration, co-owner and restorer of the Melson House, MacNider Museum board member and past president, NIACC Visual Arts Professor Emeritus.

Preservation Committee Chair. Dr. Robert McCoy. Current River City Society for Historical Preservation director, Stockman House Restoration Committee founding director, former national director of Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy, retired orthopedic surgeon.

Fund raising Committee Chair. Pat Schultz. Retired high school teacher, community volunteer and activist. Board of Directors: Clear Lake Community School Foundation.

Melissa Schoneberg. Executive Director of Habitat for Humanity, North Central Iowa. Became interested in Frank Lloyd Wright architecture while teaching in Japan.

Mark Frandle. Business Relationship Manager and Asst. Vice President with US Bank.

Lee Weber. Current River City Society for Historic Preservation director and president, educator.

John Wilson. Vice President of Regional Sales for Trustile Doors LLC. Past Board Members. Robert Broshar, Hal Hofman, Martha Huntington, Herb Kennedy, Jay Lala, Robert Marolf, John Michel, D. Kendall Petersen, Roger Peterson, Gary Schmit.

The support of five current honorary board members offers WOTP a wealth of expertise on Wright, architecture, Iowa, and strategic planning. “We are honored to have these people support the Mason City project,” comments WOTP Executive Director, Ann MacGregor. The five honorary board members are: Jonathan Lipman. Director of the Institute of Maharishi Vedic Architecture in Fairfield, Iowa, Lipman is an award-winning architect. Past president of the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy, he has done historic preservation work on some of the nation’s most distinguished landmarks.

Chuck Offenberger. Covering the state for over 45 years for a variety of publications, The Des Moines Register in particular, he has also authored several books on Iowa athletics and sports personalities. In 1999-2000, he served on the Governor’s Strategic Planning Council and continued on the board of directors for Iowans for a Better Future, leading discussions across the state on future goals and higher education.

Vice-admiral Norman W. Ray. Director of Naval Air Anti-Submarine Warfare, long-range Naval planning, Executive Assistant to the Navy Acquisitions Executive, Executive Assistant to the Secretary of the Navy, and Director of the Office of Program Appraisal for the Secretary of the Navy. NATO Assistant Secretary general for Defense Support and the senior American civilian serving NATO, acting as Deputy Chairman of the NATO Military Committee from 1992-1995. After his retirement from the Navy, Vice-admiral Ray joined Raytheon International. After 8 years with Raytheon, he joined the SPECTRUM Group, a corporate consulting firm based in Alexandria, VA. William Allin Storrer, PhD. Adjunct Professor of Architecture at the University of Texas. The author of The Frank Lloyd Wright Companion, the only complete single volume reference that includes plans, he is considered among the leading experts on Wright’s work. Also the author of The Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright, the only catalog of Wright’s built work, Dr. Storrer continues to up-date information on Wright and his work on his website The Frank Lloyd Wright Update.

Richard Guy Wilson, PhD. Wilson holds the Commonwealth Professor’s Chair in Architectural History at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. He has authored, coauthored or edited more than a dozen books, among those The Prairie School in Iowa, published by Iowa State University during his tenure as a professor there.

WOTP formed in 2005 to undertake project Wright on the Park, Inc. (WOTP) formed in early 2005 in answer to the city’s plea for a local group to come forward and assume the rescue of The Historic Park Inn Hotel. Robert “Chip” Kinsey III, a local attorney, facilitated several meetings at the request of then Mayor Jean Marinos and Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Robin Anderson.

Those attending concluded that ownership should be held by a private, non-profit group but that a hotel management company would be needed to operate the facility. Following the meetings, the citizens’ group went before the City Council to announce their interest. The Council voted unanimously to accept its proposal.

16 Wright on the Park

By March, WOTP had filed articles of incorporation and elected Peggy Bang president and Ann MacGregor secretary. Ann was then appointed as Executive Director.

WOTP immediately began looking into funding opportunities and developing a business plan. It applied for nonprofit, tax-exempt status in September and received approval in November of 2006. The City of Mason City officially transferred ownership to WOTP in June 2006.

WOTP immediately focused on funding opportunities and strategic planning for the restoration project.

In September of 2007, WOTP was able to purchase the City National Bank through a grant and changed its focus

Thursday, August 25, 2011

to include the entire building designed

by Wright.

Over the next several years, membership on the board changed, with Jean Marinos serving as the second president. The board also hired Claudia Collier as program assistant.

In the fall of 2010, with fund raising completed, bids were let and the major construction phase of the project began with a projected completion date of June 30, 2011.

WOTP has updated its mission statement: to own, preserve, maintain and educate the public about The Historic Park Inn Hotel designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. It has also expanded and specified its goals for the future.

As the non-profit group moves

forward, this will mean greater emphasis on educational goals. WOTP has opened discussions with both the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation and the Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust to take advantage of some of the educational programming already developed.

It is also working in coordination with the Mason City Architectural Interpretive Center and MacNider Museum.

At this point, however, WOTP is largely concentrating on the September 5-11 Grand Opening celebration in recognition of the people and work that have contributed to its success.

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MS-44689

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Opening September Thursday, 2011August 25, 2011

Wright on the Park

17

The Historic Park Inn Hotel is a great addition to Mason City’s downtown. Congratulations on finishing this historic restoration!

First Citizens National Bank is proud to be a donor to Wright On The Park!

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Investment in Your Future!

Home Interiors is proud to have provided fine

quality Stickley Furniture and timeless area rugs to the Park Inn Hotel renovation of the magnificent Frank Lloyd Wright design. Good Luck to you all.

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MS-43987

Clear Lake Stained and Beveled Glass John Larsen

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18 Wright on the Park

Photo of restored original skylight in Park Inn Hotel

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Memberships ensure WOTP future success Paid memberships have been a vital part of WOTP’s fund-raising efforts to date. While construction fundraising is complete, memberships will continue to be important for the organization to meet its ongoing mission to own, preserve, maintain, and educate the public about Wright’s building.

WOTP will continue to be responsible for regular maintenance of the building, insuring it, and leasing it. In addition, its office will have operational costs.

Now that the construction phase is near completion, the non-profit organization is stepping up its educational programming as well.

Tours, publications, speakers and curriculum packages are among the things being investigated by the Education Committee headed by Frances Hoffman.

WOTP will also continue to seek grants and private donations to support its mission.

“Our members are an important key to our success,” says MacGregor, “and they are deeply appreciated.”

Interested supporters can sign up for membership online at www. wrightonthepark.org or may pick up membership information in the WOTP office in room 435 of the Brick and Tile building.

Major donors are honored on plaques displayed in the hotel and all donors are recognized in a special kiosk in the hotel lobby.

The form below can be completed and mailed to Wright on the Park, P.O. Box 972, Mason City, IA. 50402.

Naming rights still available A limited number of naming rights opportunities also still exist for those interested in this type of donation. A list of rooms in the hotel that are still available or for other naming rights information or for further information about other donation opportunities, contact Wright on the Park at 641423-0689 or visit the WOTP website.

Wright on the Park Membership

All membership levels include the benefits of all the levels above them.

Mail to Wright on the Park, PO Box 792, Mason City, IA 50402. New benefits go into effect October 1, 2011.

Membership levels: ___ Senior citizen/student $20

___ Individual $25

newsletter, events alerts, and 10% discount on hotel reservations same as above

___ Friend $100 2 regularly-scheduled tours of the hotel

___ Sponsor $250 10% discount on gift items, one $20

gift certificate for The Historic Park Inn restaurant ___ Patron $500

2 $20 gift certificates for The Historic Park Inn Hotel restaurant

___ Benefactor

2 WOTP etched wine glasses

$1000

___ Guardian $2500

$50 off a one-night stay at the hotel week nights only M-Th.

___ Steward $5000

copy of The Historic Park Inn Hotel 90- page illustrated history, permanent recognition on hotel plaque

Business/Corporate memberships: ___ Partner $100-499 ___ Bronze partner $500-999 ___ Silver partner $1000-4999 Name ______________________ Address ______________________________ Phone ______________________ E-mail ______________________________

The STET design in the windows Wright designed for the hotel are featured on a tote bag that will be offered by WOTP.

Collectible items offered by WOTP New collectibles are being sold by WOTP as part of the celebration of the completion of The Historic Park Inn Hotel.

“There are many distinctive features of the hotel that hold appeal for collectors and those who visit the hotel,” explains Pat Schultz, WOTP fund-raising chair. “The exterior columns, the art-glass and muntin window designs are just a few of these.”

Among the items is a tote bag with the design of the window muntin Frank Lloyd Wright crafted for some of the third-floor rooms. Another is a mug complete with Wright’s drawing of the building’s exterior.

Also being sold are coaster sets, each of four coasters in the set imprinted with a different design of the hotel and elements within it. The coaster depicting the Mercury statue took its image from a 1910 advertising card done by the City National Bank.

Bookmarks with an interpretive design of the terra-cotta and polychromatic tile columns on the buildings exterior are also available.

“Selling these items serves a threefold purpose,” explains Schultz. “Certainly they bring in revenue, which is a key consideration. But they also offer opportunities for Wright fans and collectors and are a part of our ongoing education mission.”

For some time, WOTP has sold a history and a limited-edition print as well as wine glasses, note cards and

coloring cards.

The history started as the project of WOTP summer intern Katie Hahn and was edited and expanded by board members. Its collection of photos, drawings, and historical background presents an important preservation of these elements.

Dick Leet’s limited edition print is on hand-made paper by Katie MacGregor and presents a beautiful view of the north facade of the hotel.

The collectibles will be for sale at the Architectural Interpretive Center gift shop, at the WOTP office and at the hotel. They will also be offered Sept. 5 during the activities at Central Park or they can be ordered online at www.wrightonthepark.org.

One of the Mercury statue light fixtures Wright designed for the City National Bank is the image for one of the coasters in a four-piece set.

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Wright on the Park

19

Many take pride in “Job well done!”

“A dedicated, determined Wright on the Park Board of Directors; a large number of volunteer committee members; a community that supported the funding efforts; financial institutions willing to take a risk; local, state, and federal leaders who shared the vision; talented architects, construction companies and artisans who worked long hours-ALL deserve praise for a job well done.”

“The restoration of The Historic Park Inn Hotel has changed the look of downtown and will continue to change the dynamic of our community. Citizens will be surprised by the growth and activity this hotel will bring,” “Our desire is that all will participate in the celebration during our week-long Grand Opening, and for many years to come.” Jean Marinos, Wright on the Park President.

It has taken many people with many different skills to bring about this restoration. Key figures have been Martha Huntington and the others at Bergland and Cram.

Henkel Construction has been Construction Manager with now President Gary Schmit doing the pre-construction estimating and overseeing the bidding process.

Cheryl Hubbard is Henkel’s Project Manager, while Wolf Meier is the on-site Project Superintendent.

Tony Pappas has acted as the volunteer owners’ representative.

Cheryl, who usually works on two or three projects simultaneously, has been spending all of her time on this one.

The size of the job was clear to her from the onset. “I looked at this building and thought, ‘Where in the world do you start?’”

Those companies with the appropriate bonding and skills who would work on the restoration were determined through sealed bids.

Sande Construction of Humboldt is the General Contractor for the restoration, with Mick McBride of Fort Dodge as their Project Manager.

When Mick took his first look at the building, his honest reaction was “No way!” Today he calls it “beautiful - an amazing building.” Sande’s biggest chal20 Wright on the Park

lenge was the work on the bank foundation. Once it was clear the northeast corner foundation had to be entirely replaced, it was like “propping three stories up on stilts,” McBride says. It wasn’t hard to imagine it coming down.

Sande’s employees drive back and forth daily to the job - in the winter months that meant leaving and returning during the dark. But Mick believes they are proud to be a part of it. “What they’ve done - it has also given them a lot of confidence in their abilities. It really has improved their skills - testing them in a lot of ways.”

Has McBride ever worked on a project like this one before? “Never - not even close!”

Renaissance Construction of Galena, Illinois, however, brought considerable experience to the job. The company got its start doing the Main Street restoration in Galena and has focused since on historic structures.

Zach Dunne of Renaissance has been on this project for two years.

“Every restoration presents challenges.

With this job one of the big ones was getting the stone for the building here from Arizona.”

This is the second Frank Lloyd Wright Renaissance has worked on, the first located in LaGrange, Illinois.

Renaissance has had up to 25 workers on the job. Unlike the Sande employees, they stay in Mason City during the week, bringing business to local hotels and restaurants.

Like most of the workers, the Renaissance team is taking real satisfaction in this job. “You can’t pay these guys enough to travel like this unless they take pride in what they do. Most of them have been working for the company twenty years or so.”

Workers in The Historic Park Inn Hotel install insulation made of recycled denim. Any historic preservation project like this is “green” by nature since it uses the old rather than taking new space or elements from the environment. However, attention was given to “green” construction in other ways.

“Taking what has been butchered up and bringing it back like new,” that’s how they see the job, says Zach.

Rewiring the hotel has also been a major job. Bob Jones of Waterloo works for Nelson Electric and has been on this job since March of 2010. “This was old knob and tube stuff - probably the original wiring,” he says.

The biggest challenge? “Coordinating all the people who have to work in the same areas - electrical, mechanical, duct work, sprinklers.”

Bob half laughs, but is mostly pretty serious when he says, “I hope to never see another job like this one! It’s a unique building, but I’ve never had this much challenge in a remodel.”

Still, Bob says it has been worth doing and he likes seeing it all come

together into a completed hotel.

Greg Horst of Cornerstone Plastering and Drywall has been working on the hotel for eight months. He’s in Mason City three or four days a week, then home in Brandon, South Dakota, for the weekend.

Greg has worked on other historic buildings, but those have been salvaged and completely gutted, so the construction was all new inside. The major challenge on this job has been discovering all the different ways the building has been altered over the years. “Over 100 years, the building has settled quite a lot, so we’ve had to do our best to plane things out and make them look just as straight as they did in the original.“

Management and Design groups hired for The Historic Park Inn Hotel project include: Henkel Construction Company; KJWW Engineering; Charles Saul Engineering; the State Historical Society of Iowa, SHPO; PlanScape Partners; and Bergland and Cram Architects.

Primary construction companies working on the project, not including sub-constractors, include: Sande Construction; Renaissance Restoration, Inc.; Mid-Continental Restoration Company, Inc.; Cornerstone Plastering and Drywall, Inc.; Schumacher Elevator; General Sprinkler Corp.; Nelson Electric of Black Hawk County; RDG Dahlquist; Clear Lake Stained and Beveled Glass; Boyler’s Ornamental Iron, Inc.; Scott Architectural Lighting; and RCS Millwork.

Thursday, August 25, 2011

www.wrightonthepark.org

Website among Claudia Collier’s many jobs at WOTP Wright on the Park maintains an active website to update members and the interested pubic on The Historic Park Inn Hotel. Information is posted regularly on events, the history of the building, Frank Lloyd Wright, and much more, including links to related sites. Memberships can be obtained online as can products offered for sale by WOTP. “Check the site often,” advises Executive Director Ann MacGregor, “as we are constantly adding information about coming events as well as historic photos and current photos of the building.”

Recently, the website has undergone some changes. As the hotel underwent restoration, it was decided that the website needed some renovation as well. “We knew our website needed a new look as we moved forward, but we still needed the capability to manage the content,” said Program Assistant Claudia Collier.

Enter McLellan Marketing Group (MMG) of Des Moines who agreed to design and help implement the website on a pro bono basis. After reviewing three concepts, WOTP was able to select a design that was new but also incorporated the look and feel of Prairie School architecture.

Designer Robin Lake explains MMG’s approach to WOTP’s website,

“Over-all, we tried to keep the look of the website very linear to fit with many of Wright’s designs. The navigation menu is modeled after a photo of one of the art-glass ceiling panels. The colors used on the website are from the exterior tile design upon which the WOTP logo was based. We used a font that reflected the Arts and Crafts period that works well with the logo.”

“The original rendering of the hotel, done in a subtle tone-on-tone effect for the main image, was used to reflect both the beauty of the original concept and the goal of restoration.”

The new website, scheduled to go live soon, will link to WOTP’s Facebook page and in the future have a virtual tour viewing feature. It will also allow visitors to sign up for Wright on the Park’s newsletter.

“MMG has designed a truly unique look for us. They’ve been wonderful to work with—a truly creative and generous organization,” said Collier, who will continue to manage the website.

Claudia was hired by WOTP in 2008, not long after she and her husband Paul came to Mason City where he serves as pastor of the First Presbyterian Church.

With considerable previous experience in non-profit work, Claudia finds her job here

Sponsors make events possible for opening

Area sponsors have made contributions to make possible the events planned for the Grand Opening of the Historic Park Inn Hotel.

0 “These sponsorships mean everything to our ability to celebrate the completion of this landmark project in the way it deserves,” commented Ann MacGregor, WOTP Executive Director. Sponsors include:

Central Park Dentistry

Charlie MacNider

Clear Lake Bank & Trust Clear Lake Stained & Beveled Glass Curries Edgar Financial Services First Citizens’ National Bank 1st Insurance Golden Grain Energy Heiny, McManigal, Duffy, Stambaugh & Anderson Henkel Construction Company Hogan-Hansen, P.C. Barbara and Jerry Knoll Mercy Medical Center - North Iowa MetalCraft North Iowa Anesthesia Associates, P.C.

widely varied. “She’s the glue that holds me together,” says MacGregor.

Typically, Claudia handles public relations, docent and volunteer organization, correspondence, and tour scheduling. She is integral to all board and committee activities, organizing the schedules and taking minutes – sometimes for as many as 12 meetings in one week. She handles incoming calls, product sales, and contacts with printers for WOTP publications.

“And that doesn’t begin to describe all that she does,” continues MacGregor.

In addition to her work with WOTP and at the church, Claudia is involved in other community activities. She serves on the board of the River City Society for Historical Preservation, teaches knitting classes, and is active in Una Vocis, serving on its board.

Claudia Collier is WOTP’s program assistant.

WOTP is associate member of FLWF

WOTP is an associate member of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation based in Scottsdale, Arizona. The Foundation administers Wright’s Taliesin in Spring Green, Wisconsin, and Taliesin II in Scottsdale as well as the architecture school.

The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation holds an extensive archive, including Wright’s original drawings, correspondence and much else. It also conducts extensive research projects and educational programming.

The Foundation holds the rights to all of Wright’s designs and authorizes reproductions and publication of the designs. It maintains a gift store and a tour and events program at both sites.

Associate membership allows WOTP to consult all of Wright’s drawings of the local building and to draw on the expertise of those employed by the Foundation. It also gives WOTP permission to publish certain items and sell collectibles.

There are two other major Wright organizations. The Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy is dedicated to

the preservation of buildings designed by the architect. WOTP board member Dr. Robert McCoy is a past member of the Conservancy’s board of directors. The group plans to hold its October 2012 conference in Mason City.

The third Wright-focused group is the Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust, located in Chicago. They maintain Wright’s Oak Park home and studio, offering tours and educational programming.

Many other smaller groups, like WOTP, exist to preserve and maintain other Wright-designed structures.

In Iowa, The Friends of Cedar Rock work with the National Park Service to preserve and offer programming about the river-side home designed by Wright at Quasqueton.

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Wright on the Park

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“Amazing results” Hotel offers variety of unique settings

The art-glass panels in the Skylight Room are the originals Frank Lloyd Wright designed for the hotel. Long ago removed, probably due to a leaking skylight, the panels were moved to the Blythe house where they were rediscovered and donated to the hotel project by Dr. and Mrs. Robert McCoy.

Special attention has been given to every area of the hotel. Designers Scott Borcherding, Dana Thomas and Joan Gasaway selected the period-style furniture and lamp for this hallway nook.

Scott and Dana designed the carpet, and the woodwork has been restored to its original stain and placement.

22 Wright on the Park

Thursday, August 25, 2011

The Historic Park Inn Hotel, the last remaining Frank Lloyd Wright designed and built hotel in the world, showcases a ballroom, two meeting rooms and five specialty rooms of various sizes to allow it to accommodate intimate groups very comfortably in the smaller spaces and at the same time host groups banquet style for up to 170. It offers over 8,000 square feet of meeting space including a 2,400-square-foot ballroom.

The Grand Ballroom is located on the main floor in the original City National Bank. The room has been returned to its original two-story height and the artglass windows and skylight panels are back in place so the room is filled with light and air as Wright had intended.

The ballroom is perfect for weddings and other events.

The Skylight Room located right behind the front desk features the original art-glass panels that Wright designed.

He wanted guests to sit under the skylight and admire the color and light it brought into the room. The Skylight Room is a beautiful place for a dinner party or reception.

The lower level houses 4 rooms – two of the meeting rooms are named after the lawyers Markley and Blythe who commissioned Frank Lloyd Wright to design the hotel. These two rooms are perfect for a business meeting or social gathering and the Wine Room is ideal for private dining. The Billiards’ Room & Bar looks a lot like it did 100 years ago.

Great place to unwind after a long day at work. Enjoy a beverage and a game of pool before heading home. Is this the place Meredith Willson was writing about - a new pool table in town?

There are 3 meeting spaces on the 2nd floor. The Law Library is now a Board Room. The Ladies Parlor with its Wright designed French doors opens out to the balcony that overlooks Central Park and is the perfect place for high tea or a casual gathering. The

Sample Room is located on the second floor and is great for a break out or a small meeting.

Gorgeous chandeliers and historic atmosphere will enhance any corporate function, wedding reception or reunion.

The hotelier works with a list of preferred caterers to offer a wide variety of delicacies at a price to work with every budget. Other services may be scheduled for any group including full service bars. State -of-the-art audio visual equipment, high-speed internet and specialty linens are available.

Tracy Knebel, general manager of the hotel, explains, “We will be happy to plan activities such as a golf outing, spa retreat or a limo ride around the city to enhance your event! Let the Historic Park Inn assist you in planning a productive yet enjoyable visit!“ For specifics on conference facilities or for more information, call 1-800-659-2220 or e-mail Tknebel@StayHPI.com.

Knebel has spent 12 years in the Mason City area, working in the hospitality and food service industry.

With over 20 years of industry experience, she will lead the team opening The Historic Park Inn Hotel. She is a graduate of the University of Northern Iowa with a Bachelor’s degree in Public Relations.

Tracy Knebel, General Manager.

Always by your side.. L���. � � T . � � � � Co

Proud Partner of the Park Inn Hotel and City National Bank Historic Renovation Project

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Copeland Furniture is pleased to have reproduced the Frank Lloyd Wright designed directors chairs originally created for the City National Bank in 1910.

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Distinctive designs create visual appeal

Pictured above: Is a section of the art-glass lobby window facing Central Park. The original remained intact and was removed and restored. Pictured right: Hotel hallway carpet was custom designed to reflect Frank Lloyd Wright’s deisign for the columns on the building’s exterior.

The art-glass window above the lobby entrance continues the design of all the windows across the hotel’s north side.

The Ladies Parlor and balcony offer a unique setting for hotel guests or for groups who reserve it for special events.

24 Wright on the Park

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Metal grill work (left) that originally contributed to the bank’s “strong box” look have been replaced over the clerestory windows. About half of the grills were discovered serving as a fence at at Clear Lake home.

Chicago Duo performing at hotel

The world is taking notice Since the opening of The Historic Park Inn Hotel on August 8, evidence The Legato Studio duo of Ric Larsen, classical guitar and keyboard, and Lisa Godlewski, of the impact has been mounting. The oboist, of Aurora, Illinois, will perform at the invitation-only reception for donors during the Grand Opening week. Larsen, a native of New Hampton, Iowa, and Godleswski both teach music in the phone at the Wright on the Park office Chicago area and perform for various private and public occasions. rings all the time – with questions, with congratulations, with requests for inforLuxfer Prism featured in mation. art-glass Preservation Iowa’s website recommended “Stay at the only Frank Lloyd Wright-designed hotel in the world.” On Congierge.com, the notice read, “You’ve cruised around Oak Park, gotten misty at Fallingwater, and crisscrossed the country to both Taliesin East and West, but now there’s a new box to check off on your Frank Lloyd Wright bucket list: The Historic Park Inn Hotel . . . Short of winning the lottery or nodding off at the Grunwald necklace designed Guggenheim, this is your best chance to sleep in a Wright.” for auction Dan Grunwald designed the beautiful oneConde` Nast Traveler wrote, “And of-a-kind necklace for The Historic Park Inn Hojust what does an $18-million gut renotel’s grand opening. In a combination of white vation get you? Prairie School genius. . . and gold 14 carat gold, its central feature What other chance will you have to stay is the 6.83 carat cacoxanite stone with two in an iconic Frank Lloyd Wright properdiamonds and an amethyst (close to one carat) above it. Completing the elegant piece is the John Larsen of Clear Lake, the glass artisan ty? So, head to Iowa!” bullet-shaped onyx drop. It will be among the who restored much of the art-glass for The HisChoosy Nomad quipped, “Let’s say items on the live auction at the September 10 toric Park Inn Hotel, has donated several pieces you had a reason to be in Iowa – your Skylight Ball. of art glass for the Skylight Ball auction. The one pictured here was inspired by the colors and plane made an emergency landing, you were tracking the psychoses of Republidesigns Frank Lloyd Wright used for the hotel and has as its center of focus an original Luxfer can presidential candidates, or you were Prism, one of those designed by Wright in 1897. misdirected to the wrong flyover state The prisms, incorporated into upper registers of window openings, redirected light into an interior when clicking your ruby slippers – you might want to check out the reincarnaby refracting it further into a room.

tion of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Park Inn Hotel.” Iowans may not appreciate the depiction of the State, but the article does suggest the hotel would merit the trip.

New York’s Artinfo site proclaimed, “Architecture wonks, rejoice! Two years and $18 million later, Frank Lloyd Wright’s last standing hotel completed a major facelift and reopened in Mason City, Iowa, yesterday.” The article concluded, “For Wright enthusiasts around the world, a flight to Iowa may be well worth the trip — while buying a Wright probably isn’t an option, you can always settle for the chance to spend a night in one.”

Several years ago, World Architectural News spotlighted the restoration after the Vision Iowa grant had been awarded. Headquartered in London, the publication carried the story of its opening and restoration as its front page lead on August 12. Architecture + Artisans included a story the same day.

The article began, “In Mason City, Iowa, a town blessed with more Prairie School residences than any other in Iowa, a group of preservationists have restored Frank Lloyd Wright’s last hotel to the architect’s original 1910 vision.”

The list goes on, the phone keeps ringing, Google alerts keep popping up.The world is already taking notice of The Historic Park Inn Hotel.

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Wright on the Park

25

Old combines with new In order to meet the requirements for the Secretary of the Interior’s historic preservation guidelines and thus qualify for grant monies, The Historic Park Inn Hotel has been restored as closely as possible to Frank Lloyd Wright’s original design plan. Not only did Wright design the building itself, but many of the interior elements as well. Still, despite having Wright’s original drawings, some things were missing or unknown. In addition, architect Martha Huntington had to consider the demands of contemporary hotel guests and work to meet their needs.

What’s original to the building as it stood in 1910?

Original exterior brick remains on much of the building.The exterior terra cotta and polychrome columns are original to the building. These have been cleaned and the brick work has been cleaned and re-tuck pointed.

The skylight panels in the ballroom and in the Skylight room are the 1910 originals, restored by John Larsen.

Art-glass windows in the lobby and hotel rooms as well as the windows in the bank third-floor rooms are mostly original.

Many of the louvered doors to the hotel rooms and the stair railings are restored originals.The tile floor in the lobby and Skylight room is the restored original floor. A number of the bathrooms also have their original tile while that tile was reproduced for new bathrooms and those with missing tile.

The claw-foot tub in the historic suit is original and has been restored.The configuration of the historic suit is the same as it was in 1910. The same is true for the law office area, the ladies parlor and balcony, the salesmen’s sample room, and the gentlemen’s lounge.

The hotel hallways are the same width they have always been. Even the insert in the wall of the hotel hallway that held the phone system for much of Mason City remains.

The original doorway holding the 26 Wright on the Park

safe for the law firm remains in place and still bears the law firm’s name.

Some of the paneling in the law office area is also original.

Over half of the grill work that fronts the clerestory windows on the bank segment of the building is original.

While not original to The Historic Park Inn Hotel, the billiards’ table is a period piece and the period Stickley furniture in the law office reception room was donated to the restoration.

Reproductions of things once original to the building.

The lower exterior of the bank, including stone and brick, had to be completely replaced since these were removed in the 1926 remodel that installed the retail display windows.

The Mercury statues for the ballroom, designed by Richard Bock, were reproduced from an original held by the Mason City Public Library.

The mezzanine balcony, the barrel chairs from the bank directors’ room, and the glass mortar inserts for the ballroom are all reproductions as are the exterior lantern light fixtures, the east ballroom entry, the law library table and the lower cement urn on the north side of the building.

The clerestory windows on the bank section of the building are reproductions of the originals and the missing grill work was reproduced from the pieces that still exist. Bore extractions from the walls, wood and ceilings enabled the designers to determine the colors that were used in 1910 and reproduce those.

Fortunately, either some of the originals, photographs, or Wright’s drawings made it possible for these to be historically accurate.

Missing pieces.

While photos of the bank interior were taken for Architectural Digest in 1910, no interior photos of the hotel have been found to date except a few from later remodels. While the configurations of the various rooms were clear from Wright’s work, no one knows what the furnishings of the ladies’ parlor, gentlemen’s lounge,

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Skylight room or mezzanine may have been. Some things were clear from the building itself, for example, the height and location of the mezzanine.

Because the original floor remains in the lobby and the skylight room, it is also clear that the original restaurant in the Skylight room held booths around the perimeter, a detail that has not been restored.

New additions.

The biggest change in the building is in the hotel rooms. Wright’s original design had just over 40 10 x 10 guest and staff rooms. Each had a sink of its own, but bathrooms were shared, some located between two rooms, some located off the hallways.

Enlarging the rooms and using the third-floor of the bank for additional rooms allowed the creation of 27 mod-

ern rooms.

Of course, the heating, plumbing and electric work all had to be replaced. According to Randy Cram of Bergland and Cram Architects, the heating and cooling system had to be configured to run through very small original lines. The system installed made that possible and is so new it didn’t even exist six months ago. An elevator and railings are also new to the building, installed to meet accessibility and safety codes that did not exist one hundred years ago. Almost no original furnishings remained; designers have chosen or created these based on 1910 styles. And of course, the 1910 public bathrooms assuredly did not have television sets in them – a surprise touch to the elegant hotel.

What’s original to the building as it stood in 1910?

The skylight panels in the ballroom and in the Skylight room are the 1910 originals, restored by John Larsen.

Art-glass windows in the lobby and hotel rooms as well as the windows in the bank third-floor rooms are original.

Many of the louvered doors to the hotel rooms and the stair railings are restored originals.

The tile floor in the lobby and Skylight room is the restored original floor. A number of the bathrooms also have their original tile while that tile was reproduced for new bathrooms and those with missing tile.

The claw-foot tub in the historic suit is original and has been restored.

The configuration of the historic suit is the same as it was in 1910. The same is true for the law office area, the ladies parlor and balcony, the salesmen’s sample room, and the gentlemen’s lounge.

The hotel hallways are the same width they have always been.

The insert in the wall of the hotel hallway that held the phone system for much of Mason City remains.

The original doorway holding the safe for the law firm remains in place and still bears the law firm’s name. Some of the paneling in the law office area is also original.

Over half of the grill work that fronts the clerestory windows is original.

The exterior terra cotta and polychrome columns are original to the building.

Original exterior brick remains on much of the building.

While not original to The Historic Park Inn Hotel, the billiards’ table is a period piece.

The Stickley furniture in the law office reception room includes period pieces donated to the restoration.

Reproductions of things once original to the building.

The Mercury statues for the ballroom.

The mezzanine balcony.

The barrel chairs from the bank directors’ room.

The glass mortar inserts for the ballroom.

The law library table.

The exterior lantern light fixtures.

The east entry.

The clerestory windows on the bank section of the building.

The lower cement urn on the north side of the building.

This project would not have happened without the special assistance of many. Thanks to all who contributed their time, talent and treasure!

Wright on the Park, Inc.

WOTP board members past and present–for your passion and commitment.

Vision Iowa Program

for providing $8.2 million in grant funding and $15,000 in marketing funds. Special thanks to former Vision Iowa Board Chairman Andy Anderson for your patience and perseverance in negotiating our contract. Thanks also to VI Project Manager Alaina Santizo and Assistant Attorney General Steve Moline for extraordinary efforts on our behalf.

Mason City Chamber of Commerce for serving as the applicant and guarantor for the Vision Iowa funding as well as committing significant financial and in-kind resources to the project.

MS-46797

Chamber Board Members

past and present—for providing vision, diligent oversight, Vision Mason City fundraising and much more! Special thanks to Chamber Board Presidents 2006-2011: Marti Rodamaker, Dennis Reidel, Robin Edgar, Jim FitzPatrick, Andy Hubbard and John Michel.

Vision Mason City Donors

to all the contributors large and small who donated more than $2 million in financial and in-kind contributions to the Vision Iowa projects which secured our community match.

Iowa Community Development

with special mention to Dan Robeson and Jim DePauw for providing financial expertise that brought New Markets Tax Credits to the project, assistance in securing a lead lender and providing a loan guarantee.

Iowa Great Places Program

for providing nearly $600,000 in grant funding, marketing assistance, and extra consideration from state agencies.

Special thanks to Great Places Board Member Sam Erickson for providing expertise and assistance with the Historic Tax Credit applications. Thanks also to Cyndi Pederson, former Director Iowa Dept. of Cultural Affairs for taking a special interest in this endeavor.

VI Project Committee

Bob Broshar, Robin Edgar, Andy Hubbard, Jean Marinos, Bob McCoy, and Lee Weber for consistent volunteer oversight of the hotel and interpretive center projects.

Hotelier Selection Task Force

Brad Barber, Chris Deets, Jean Marinos, Dennis Reidel, Brad Schoneberg, Ann MacGregor and Robin Anderson… for selecting a first-rate hotel management company (Stoney Creek Hospitality—HPI Partners) to operate the Historic Park Inn.

“Grassroots for Mason City”

especially to founders Eric Bookmeyer and Carol Dettmer… for mobilizing extraordinary community support!

Downtown Business Owners

for perseverance and inconvenience! We’re almost there!

Citizens of Mason City

forThursday, catching the vision and a new on beginning!

August 25, celebrating 2011 Wright the Park

27

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