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Article: An urban gem shines once again; Historic Skirvin Hotel is reborn as the Skirvin Hilton as part of city's downtown renaissance -- and just in time for state's centennial celebration
- Article from:
- Chicago Sun-Times
- Article date:
- April 15, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2007 Chicago Sun-Times. (Hide copyright information)
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OKLAHOMA CITY -- Its spacious lobby was the meeting place of
politicians and oil-rich millionaires.
Its guest rooms and restaurants bustled with the frenetic pace of
freewheeling ranchers and drillers.
Its banquet rooms were the boisterous stumping ground of Oklahoma
governors and at least four presidents.
The ornate Skirvin Hotel -- opened in 1911 just four years after
Oklahoma became a state -- is the historic social hub of Oklahoma
City. The 220,000-square-foot behemoth was a place residents and
visitors to the new state wanted to see -- and where they wanted to
be seen.
The hotel's luster, hidden away for almost 20 years as it sat
boarded up, is brightening the cityscape once ...