Crime Scene?

Little doubt remains that the Winecoff Hotel was the scene of a vicious crime in 1946. Today, some claim it is also the scene of a colossal case of mortgage fraud. Writing for OpEdNews.com Micheal McCray raises the issue anew. His article is here. His second article is here.

Worldwide News: AP & Reuters

The October opening of the Ellis Hotel has sparked new interest in the building's famous past and the tragedy that occurred there: The Winecoff Hotel fire. Two news stories have been circulated to news outlets around the world. The first by Daniel Yee for the Associated Press, click here and the next by Matthew Bigg for Reuters News Service. Click here

Get Set...Go!

The Winecoff Hotel building has at last been returned to its original purpose. It is once again a first class downtown Atlanta hotel: The Ellis on Peachtree. The lobby and the rest of the structure have been completely refurbished.

Led by Atlanta's mayor Shirley Franklin - and her fire chief - a ribbon cutting ceremony was held Wednesday October 17. On the mezzanine level invited guests mingled and enjoyed refreshments. Susan Griffin, who masterminded the redevelopment effort, moved among them. She had promised eighteen months earlier that she would remodel the building and she delivered.

Amid the crowd, conversations were occasionally punctuated by talk of the Winecoff fire. Susan Griffin doesn't shy away from the subject. Like many other builders, she learns from it.

Newspaper writers and broadcast reporters came to observe. For Winecoff Fire co-author Sam Heys it was another amazing chapter in his study of the fire. He never really expected to see the building revived. But there it was... and is.

The evening air, still holding a summer warmth, drifted in through open doors that lead to a new terrace. It overlooks Peachtree Street, just like the old one did in 1946.

A modern new sign now adorns the northeast corner of the building, where the Winecoff sign once was, and where Gladys Mitchell's fall from a sheet rope was broken by a guy wire that held it.

Upstairs, the hotel's rooms are now beautifully appointed. Two years ago room 1612 was completely trashed. Now it's called Room 1603 and it's nicer than it ever was. It's also where Gladys Mitchell began her descent and where others, who were more patient, were rescued.

"I'll believe it when I see it," voices murmured when Susan Griffin and Jay Furman first stepped onto the property eighteen months ago to announce their plan to re-develop the Winecoff Hotel building. Now, we've seen it. It took 27 million dollars and a lot of hard labor but it's happened. Amazing. It will now serve the traveling public but also sustain the memory of the fire's victims and the fire safety codes they inspired.

Listen to Sandra Parrish's WSB Radio report: here.

On Your Mark...

A new facade on the lower floors of the Winecoff Hotel building has been added. This photo, taken August 1st, reveals that the new look is delightfully like the old one. One of the conditions of the complicated financial arrangement that has made the building's 26 million dollar makeover possible was that the building retain its traditional look. The new Ellis Hotel is scheduled to open this fall. The Ellis' website is also now up: http://www.ellishotel.com/

Atlanta Business Chronicle

Undaunted by lingering title questions, the re-developers of the Winecoff Hotel building have chosen Thomas O'Leary to manage the new Ellis Hotel. This article by Rachel Tobin Ramos in the Atlanta Business Chronicle tells us more. Click here

Title Questions Simmer Anew

As refurbishments continue, a fundamental question has re-arisen: Just who DOES own the Winecoff Hotel building? That question will now be addressed in court. An article by Josh Clark in The Sunday Paper gives us the latest details:

Click here for the article.

winecoff.org has been following The Sunday Paper's coverage of the dispute. Click here for our previous post.

Ellis Hotel Still A Go!

Be sure to check the March 17th edition of The Atlanta Journal & Constitution for a through update on the progress of the renovations now underway at the Winecoff Hotel building. The good news: the re-developers haven't given up! Despite a few setbacks and cost overruns the work continues with the new Ellis Hotel now scheduled to open in September of this year. The story by Leon Stafford is on the front page of the Business section, below the fold.

A Picture of Progress

Breathing new life into the Winecoff Hotel is no small undertaking. This photo, taken September 25th, shows that the old window frames are now gone. Other signs of progress abound. It has begun in earnest!

Winecoff Building Restoration Underway as Title Questions Roil

Restoration of the old Winecoff Hotel is at last underway! That's the good news. What is not as clear and evident is who will emerge the victor in an ownership dispute, long simmering and now made clearer by this article recently published in "The Sunday Paper". Click
here for the article.

Scores Attend Ellis Hotel Groundbreaking, Praise Redevelopment Plan

"I'll believe it when I see it!"

That has been my answer to any and all redevelopment plans put forward over the years to restore the Winecoff Hotel. After all, there have been so many of them and yet the strategically placed building just sits and sits. Generation after generation of pigeons have roosted inside the structure flitting in and out through broken windows. Neglected for so long, the building that towers fifteen stories above the highest piece of ground in downtown Atlanta, has become virtually invisible to most Atlantans. Amazing!

Now comes the latest effort to revive the building. The new developers have at least shown that they can put on a show. The 10 am "groundbreaking" ceremony held April 21st offered new hope that the old hotel will again be put to good use. Held beneath a portable white tent on the tiny space owned by MARTA next to the building, speaker after speaker extolled the virtues of the new plan. It all sounded surprisingly credible.

Atlanta firefighters guarded the event as if to silently give their blessing to the new plan. Each one of them knows well the story of what happened there in 1946 and in turn they looked at the building and paused, no doubt thinking, "it could have been me, it could still happen to me."

TV reporters scrambled to get a quick education about the history of the building and the new plan for their live shots at noon. Like so many, they had driven by the building dozens of times and hardly noticed it. Only WSB radio reporter Sandra Parrish had come prepared.

A troop of loud protesters could be overheard through parts of the ceremony chanting, "Stop mortgage fraud." They had come at the behest of Courtney Dillard, the last in a long string of would-be redevelopers who have seen their dreams dashed, their money vanish.

The sun shown brightly and when the speakers had had their say the crowd was invited inside to the area that was once the hotel's lobby. There the "groundbreaking" took place. Actually, a dozen or so silver hammers were handed out to those who are involved with the new plan and on the count of three they all took a few smacks at a piece of dry wall, knocked a few holes in it then left it standing and damaged like the rest of the hotel.

How dreary the old lobby looked, long overdue for a face lift. The only means of orientation for students of the Winecoff fire were the elevator doors and the structural pillars.

When the crowd had drifted away and the TV reporters moved across Peachtree St. so their cameras could glimpse the enormous "invisible" structure, down the stairs, a little short of breath, came a real life connection to The Winecoff fire: Janet Cox - daughter of survivor Dorothy Moen Cox. I looked at her and in an instant I knew where she had been, room 730.

"Did you visit Mama's room?" I asked.
"I saw Mama's room," she replied.

We all live for days worth remembering. Long after everyone at the ceremony has forgotten it. Whether the new plan succeeds or fails the day's most poignant and memorable moment will be, of course, the one attached to the Winecoff fire.

To hear WSB Radio's reports by Sandra Parrish click here.

Winecoff is on the Move

A groundbreaking ceremony is announced for the reopening of the former Winecoff Hotel at 176 Peachtree, with the new name to be unveiled at the groundbreaking.



From:
http://www.atlantadowntown.com/NewsWinecoff_Ground.asp
and
http://www.atlantada.com/media/PulseofProgressApril06.pdf :

The long-awaited redevelopment of this property will return the building to its former glory as a luxury boutique hotel, enhanced by state-of-the art technology and design. The developer, Kelco/FB Winecoff LLC, has enlisted Boykin Management Company, a leading hotel management company specializing in independent and boutique properties across the U.S., to oversee the day-to-day operations of the 127-room hotel. We invite you to attend this long-awaited groundbreaking ceremony for this catalytic project in the heart of Atlanta's Central Business District on April 21 st at 10:00 am. The hotel will also get a new name, to be unveiled during this ceremony.