Sherman House IV

< --Previous Up Next–>

Sherman House IV
Life Span: 1910-1973
Location: NW corner of N Clark & W Randolph streets
Architect: Holabird and Roche

Lakeside Annual Directory of the City of Chicago, 1911

Hotel Sherman

INTRO

In 1911, at a cost of several million dollars, a 15-story beaux arts palace was built in the same place, using the firm of Holabird and Roche to design the 757-room hotel.

The new Sherman House maintained its reputation as one of the city’s finest hotels right up into the 1950’s when the luster began to fade. The 1910 building was razed in the early 1950’s, and the annex of 1925 lasted until 1973, when it, too, was demolished to make way for Helmut Jahn’s State of Illinois Building, now the James R. Thompson Center.

Inter Ocean, January 24, 1911

If Francis Cornwall Sherman could have come to life last night and witnessed the opening of the new Hotel Sherman, erected on the site where in 1837 he built the first Sherman house, it would be hard to describe his amazement. Complete in every detail this new hostelry stands among the better class of American hotels, and the popularity o! its management was displayed by the crowds which flocked to its opening.

The lobby of the hotel was a mass of palms, interspersed with floral tributes wishing success to the new venture. An orchestra played in the balcony. while the sightseers wandered through every nook and cranny of the building. In viewing the Italian room, which is the, main dining-room, the visitor would scarcely believe that this finished room was a mass of dirt and refuse a few hours before. Every one worked bard to have things in shape for last night, and while at one time it looked impossible, the result was gratifying to both management and visitor.

Miss Frances McLean, 16 years old, of Covington, Ky., was the first guest to register at the new hotel. She was accompanied by her father. and was given the best suite in the house. The first man to register was Joseph P. Schaeffer of Milwaukee, Wis. The former presidents of the Illinois Bankers’ association, who were entertained by August Bloom, were the first guests to use the $25,000 gold service, the only one of its kind in Chicago. This service is a duplicate of the one made for George Gould of New York.

The staff of the hotel consists of many old employes, among whom are Frank W. Bering, manager: E. J. Denahy, assistant manager, and Ernest N. Ruel, chief clerk.
Joseph Belteld, president of the company, said:

The time is past when a hotel can be supported entirely by the so-called four hundred, and with this end in view, I sent out a general invitation to the people to attend the opening; I like to see a crowd. We have as fine a hotel as there is in Chicago, and yet we are not asking fancy prices for accommodations.

Among the many persons of Rialto tame who make the Hotel Sherman their home when in Chicago and are now registered there are Joe Welch, Annebelle Whitford, Francis Dooley and Messrs. Le Monte and Sheridan.

sherman

The Inter Ocean, December 26, 1910

sherman Fifteen months ago habitues of the ol College Inn in the Sherman house departec with a deep sigh as the doors were closed for the last time. Tonight Christmas will be doubly celebrated by them with the opening of the new College Inn, one of the most pretentious eating places in America. The Hotel Sherman will not open until Jan. 12.

The new cafe will seat 1,000 persons, giving it the largest seating capacity in the city. As before, it will occupy the basement of the hotel, with two subbasements for the refrigerating plants, wine cellars, silver vaults and general storerooms.

For weeks Chicagoans have been looking forward to the opening of the new cafe. hoping as Christmas neared that the cafe would open for the Yuletide festivities. By herculean effort Owner Joseph Belfeld and Manager Frank Bering have put the place in order, and it is now ready for hungry patrons.

The old College Inn, originated by Mr. Belfeld in 1903, has been copied in nearly every large city in the country. It became such a pronounced favorite in Chicago that travelers to other cities looked up a College linn on the strength of its Chicago fame.

Spacious Dining Saloon.
The main entrance is by the Randolph street door to the hotel, but to the left of the lobby entrance is a large marble stairway leading to the cafe. The basement reached, it is but a step to the grand stairway entrance to the main dining hall of the Inn. The dimensions of the cafe proper are 80×125 feet, which affords a regular seating capacity of 700, but in a rush the capacity can be enlarged to 1,000.

Elizabethan in architecture, the style is elfectively carried out, with oak wainseoting entirely covering the walls from floor to ceiling and decorated with illuminated shields of various colleges on piers and along the walls. The piers are highly colored and are made more beautiful by the lighting fixtures, which are plentifully scattered about the hall. The general color scheme of the inn is a gray brown.

On both sides of the grand entrance to the room are carved lions and unicorns, that lend tone to the rich aspect of the cafe. Vases of palms aid in the general decorative scheme.

In the basement also are located the private dining-rooms for parties of five or more.
They are known as the English room, the Dutch room, the Oak room, the Walnut room and the French room. Each room has a style distinctive in itself.

Below in the subcellars is the machinery of the hotel and the cafe. The refrigerating plant is said to be one of the features hidden from view of the patron. The range is the most complete in the country, sixty feet in length and with every modern improvement. The silver vaults are worth a special visit. Guarded by two watchmen in uniform, every bit of silverware taken out is accounted for each night at closing.

System of Ventilation.
The College Inn and all of the restaurants will be cooled in hot weather by the washed air system. Even in the hottest days the cafe will be one of the coolest places in the city.
Fresh air will be forced through water of the right temperature to make the place eom-fortable. In winter just as elaborate arrangements have been made for heat.

A crematory has been constructed for use of both hotel and cafe and every particle of refuse will be burned. A special chute from the top floor to the basement will take care of all waste matter.

One of the special features about the cafe will be the gold service set for twenty-four persons. Every plate, knife, fork and bit of tableware will be 10 karat gold. The set was made expressly for the Inn by Reed & Barton and is a duplicate of the set now in the possession of George Gould.

Eugene B. Belfeld will be the assistant manager of the hotel and manager directly in charge of the new College Inn. He held this position with the old College Inn and with the temporary cafe on Clark street. Ernest L. Belfeld will act as treasurer of the Sber-man Hotel company and the cafe.

Old Employes Retained.
All the old employes of the Hotel Sherman will be in their relative positions when the new hostelry opens Jan. 12. Among them are Edward W. Denahy, superintendent; Michael O’Brien, night superintendent; Ernest Ruel and David N. Olmstead, room clerks: Howard Hughes, night clerk, and Frank Manton, for thirty years with the Sherman house, will have charge of the banquets.

The chef will be Luelen Fromentl, who comes from the best hotels in Paris. Jean N. Mainatt, Maitre de Hotel, was formerly with the Savoy hotel, London, and the Knickerbocker of New York.

“All in all, Chicago may feel justly proud of the new cate.” said Manager Frank Bering last night as be walked about the place looking after final details. “In all of my experience as a hotel man, I have never seen & more complete place or one of greater beauty. It is an ornament to Chicago.”

The hotel cost was $3.000,000. The old Sherman house was begun to be razed Sept. 12, 1900, after standing since 1871. The first steel work was begun Jan. 7 of this year and one year from that time the hotel will be ready for occupancy.

sherman

The Hotel Sherman, including its most recent addition, occupying the historic site of the original City Hotel and the succeeding Sherman Houses.

Chicago Tribune, January 15, 1973

By Alvin Nagelberg
Real Estate Editor
Who can count the number of Saturday night dates, banquets, political pow-wows, drunks, renovations, Will Leonard reviews, or owners in the history of the Sherman House?

The College Inn, Celtic bar, Ben Bernie’s band, traveling salesmen, bootleg whisky, GI crowds listening to Jimmy Dorsey, suicides, another sale, another renovation-it’s all fading fast now.

The famous hotel at Clark and Randolph Streets will close Jan. 24. Some 600 employes are out looking for jobs now as an era in the Chicago hotel business comes to a close.

The hotel building will be gutted and transformed into an apparel mart. A 28-story hotel will be built at the corner of Randolph and La Salle Streets.

Ray Simons, president of the Mid-America Fashion Mart, Inc., said the new hotel operator’s name could be announced this week.

The Sherman House goes back to the early days of Chicago. It started as a three-story building named for Francis Sherman, a mayor of the city, and continued to grow until the 1871 Chicago Fire swept it away.

The present structure was built in 1910 and expanded in 1925.

To men like Harry Crossey it has been a lifelong job. Crossey started in 1934 as a page boy and never left. Today he’s manager of the catering department.

“It was a great theatrical hotel,” he said. “It was visited by prime ministers and kings.”

He remembers India’s Prime Minister Nehru leaving a meeting in the Sherman House and being bowled over with laughter when the chairman told the audience: “Please remain seated while the prime minister passes out.”

He remembers that Ernie Byfield, one of the owners (so were William Zeckendorf and John Mack), built a two-story, four-bedroom house on the roof, where he planned to live.

However, it was in such great demand by famous politicians and actors that he never lived in it. The first tenants were President Coolidge and his wife, Grace.

Band leader Isham Jones, ice-skating in the College Inn, the home of the Rotary Club of Chicago-the memories come flooding back as the old hotel winds down.

INTRO

Leave a Reply