Nothing Comes Closer to Home
The newest tower on the forefront of the 70s building boom downtown was the Stouffer's Cincinnati Inn. Standing at 5th and Elm, it was the only hotel connected to the new Convention Center, both of which opened for business in 1968.
As popularity grew, Stouffer's had trouble meeting demand - from booming conventions to the Big Red Machine (source) - and hinted about expansion...
...until finally releasing plans to the public, which included a second tower:
In 1975, concept became reality - now 32-stories with 900 rooms and the major draw of the age: a revolving restaurant!
Presenting the new Stouffer's Cincinnati Towers:
Though, the party had to end at some point, with the Stouffer's hotel brand diminishing in quality in the 1980s.
The property changed hands several times over the following years - Clarion, Regal, Starwood/Sheraton - finally resting with today's owner.
The once grand Stouffer's presence is now curtained by the placid waters of the Millenium:
Still, some say that if you stand quietly in the lobby and close your eyes, you can catch a hint of frozen lasagna wafting through the air...
• A couple images above taken from the incomparable Cincinnati Views. Check it out for a little more info on the Stouffer's buildings.
• Timeline history of Stouffer's Restaurants & Hotels.
• Some dialogue about the old Stouffer's hotel.
• Review Cincinnati's push for a Millenium makeover.
• Stouffer's recent jump on the chuckwagon here (the vehicle).
• Stouffer's brand in the 90s, complete with emotional sax.
• Fairly unrelated, this Stouffer's ad displays a kitchen eerily similar to the one I grew up with. Faux brick and wood panel was the thing in the 70s.
3 comments:
The convention center most hold some kind of record, it's been ugly in three different aesthetics: icy late modern neo-formal, carboard-thin geometric post-modern and the most recent pseudo-deconstructivist approximation...
I generally agree - convention centers tend to be big and boxy, not sexy. While I did like how they incorporated some of the Albee, I'm not a fan at all of the latest incarnation. I do like the first version though.
the second tower opened in 1977.
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