Cornelius Hotel

File:Charles W. Cornelius circa 1915.jpg

The seven-story building is categorized as being 20th-century Baroque Revival architecture,{{cite web |author= Portland Historic Landmarks Commission |title= Historic Landmarks -- Portland, Oregon |format= XLS |date= July 2014 |url= http://www.portlandonline.com/planning/index.cfm?c=44013&a=146276 |accessdate= April 13, 2016}} and contains 66 hotel rooms. Until 1920, it was operated by Charles W. Cornelius (1856–1923),{{cite news|last=Sullivan|first=Ann|title=Landmark conferral suggested|newspaper=The Oregonian|date=July 25, 1985|page=B5}} a businessman and doctor and Multnomah County's first coroner.{{citation needed|date=June 2018}} He named the hotel for his family and his brother, Colonel Thomas R. Cornelius. The Cornelius brothers' father founded the town of Cornelius west of Portland after emigrating to Oregon on the Oregon Trail with Joseph Meek.

The building has a "dramatic coffered ceiling in the lobby" and a French sheet metal mansard roof with cornice and entablature, and exterior masonry and terra-cotta. It included a ground-floor wood storefront that was once a "Ladies Reception Hall"{{cite web |url= http://pdxhistory.com/html/portland_hotels.html |title= Portland Hotels |publisher= PDX History |accessdate= February 6, 2015}} and an "opulent" basement cafe. "Ornate wood paneling and trim" was included throughout the building.{{cite news |last= Weinstein |first= Nathalie |title= Modern Sensibility Reshapes Cornelius Hotel in Portland |date= February 29, 2008 |newspaper= Daily Journal of Commerce |location= Portland, Oregon |url= http://djcoregon.com/news/2008/02/29/modern-sensibility-reshapes-cornelius-hotel/ |accessdate= August 7, 2012}}

By at least the 1950s, the hotel had transitioned from being a conventional hotel to an apartment hotel. The Cornelius housed a gay bathhouse in the 1960s and 1970s, while still being used mostly as a residential hotel. It was still serving as the latter in the 1980s, but a fire in 1985 left the top three floors uninhabitable, and only residents of the second, third, and fourth floors were permitted to return to the building after the fire.{{cite news|last=Painter Jr.|first=John|title=Hotel fire leaves occupants on 3 floors homeless|newspaper=The Oregonian|date=March 28, 1985|page=B2}}

By at least 1992, the building's residential use had ceased completely,{{cite news|last=Sullivan|first=Tara|title=Real estate developer buys old Cornelius Hotel|newspaper=The Oregonian|date=July 25, 2002|page=B3}} and it became vacant on all but the ground floor. In 2002, TMT Development, developer Tom Moyer's real estate company, purchased the property for $2.4 million with plans to renovate the building.{{cite news |last= Njus |first= Elliot |title= TMT Development seeks Demolition Permit for Historical Cornelius Hotel in Downtown Portland |url= http://www.oregonlive.com/front-porch/index.ssf/2013/06/tmt_developement_seeks_demolit.html#incart_river |accessdate= February 6, 2015 |newspaper= The Oregonian |date= June 5, 2013}} The renovated business-class hotel was to be reopened by June 2009 with the name "Alder Park Hotel",{{cite news |url= http://portlandtribune.com/component/content/article?id=64851 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150207042627/http://portlandtribune.com/component/content/article?id=64851 |url-status= dead |archive-date= February 7, 2015 |first= Lee |last= van der Voo |date= March 25, 2008 |title= Hotel Returns to Grand Roots: Architects Confront Damage, Neglect to Preserve Cornelius |newspaper= Portland Tribune|accessdate=February 7, 2015}} following a period where it was home to trespassers for many years after the 1980s.{{cite news |url= http://portland.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2008/02/11/daily4.html |title= Real Estate Roundup: Moyer Remaking Derelict Hotel into Biz-Class Accommodations |date= February 11, 2008 |newspaper= Portland Business Journal}} The 2008 financial crisis, however, halted work on the project, as well as Moyer's Park Avenue West Tower.

In 2013, TMT applied to the city to tear down the structure, but those plans were canceled when the building was sold again in 2014, to Arthur Mutal LLC.{{cite news |last1= Njus |first1= Elliot |title= Landmark Portland Buildings to be Transformed into Hotel |newspaper= The Oregonian |date= February 5, 2015 |page=B6 |url= http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2015/02/two_historic_downtown_building.html |accessdate= February 6, 2015}}

{{multiple image

| align = right

| total_width = 320

| image1 = Former Cornelius Hotel in 2014 - Portland, Oregon.jpg

| alt1 =

| caption1 = In 2014, before the start of renovation and restoration. The building had been vacant for several years.

| image2 = Former Cornelius Hotel undergoing renovation, August 2017.jpg

| alt2 =

| caption2 = Undergoing extensive renovation in August 2017. The fire escapes were subsequently removed.

| header = The building before and during its 2016–18 renovation

}}

In January 2015, it was announced that the building was to be joined to the adjacent Woodlark Building, renovated and returned to use as a hotel. The Woodlark Building, which would be converted from its then-existing use as an office building, is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places. As of 2016, the planned renovation and conversion was expected to cost $30 million, funded by NBP Capital, Provenance Hotels and Arthur Mutal. The hotel created from the combined buildings was to be named The Woodlark and was slated to have 151 rooms{{cite news|last=Bell|first=Jon|title=A first look at one of downtown Portland's next boutique hotels|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/blog/real-estate-daily/2016/09/a-first-look-at-one-of-downtown-portlands-next.html|accessdate=October 10, 2016|newspaper=Portland Business Journal|date=September 9, 2016}} and two restaurants or bars. Construction began in September 2016, and the new hotel opened on December 15, 2018.

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Southwest Portland, Oregon

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category|Cornelius Hotel}}

• [https://woodlarkhotel.com/ Woodlark Hotel official website]
• [http://oregondigital.org/sets/building-or?utf8=%E2%9C%93&utf8=%E2%9C%93&set=building-or&q=Cornelius&search_field=all_fields&utf8=%E2%9C%93&set=building-or&q=Cornelius+Hotel Images of the Cornelius Hotel] from the University of Oregon digital archives

{{Hotels in Portland, Oregon}}

{{Portal bar|Architecture|National Register of Historic Places|Oregon}}

Category:1908 establishments in Oregon

Category:Hotels established in 1908

Category:Hotels established in 2018

Category:Baroque Revival architecture in the United States

Category:Hotel buildings completed in 1908

Cornelius

Category:Buildings and structures in Southwest Portland, Oregon

Category:Portland Historic Landmarks