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Study lists options for old hotels
Acting now to preserve buildings near Capitol is vital, consultant says
BY DAVID RESS
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Thursday, July 14, 2005
It takes dozens of 6-by-6-inch wooden posts to keep the sidewalk beside the old Murphy Hotel from collapsing into its basement, but a new study suggests that preserving it and the former Hotel Richmond would be a good deal for the state.
The consultant's study of what to do with the Eighth and Ninth Street office buildings, as the two early 20th-century hotels near the state Capitol are known, says whatever course the state takes, it had better take it soon.
The buildings aren't aging gracefully, don't meet current safety codes and could face major failures of their mechanical systems at any time. Iron bars hold in place the bricks on the old Murphy Hotel's penthouse, while water seeping into the basement has eroded plaster from the beams and stained the floor, inches from high-voltage electrical equipment.
"Time is of the essence. Things need to keep moving and happening," said George C. Skarmeas, the principal with Philadelphia-based Hillier Architecture, which did the study.
Skarmeas said both hotels would be eligible to become historic landmarks, adding that their position, as well as the vacant lot at Ninth and Broad streets that the two buildings bracket, "is possibly one of the most important sites in the city . . . a pivotal corner."
Of 10 options for the site, the study suggested the two best choices are:
* sell or lease the old Murphy Hotel, now the Eighth Street building; refurbish the Ninth Street building as offices and put a new building on the vacant lot;
* refurbish both buildings as offices and put a new building at the corner.
The option with the lowest score was demolishing the two buildings and replacing them with a large, new state office building.
There wasn't a big range in scores among the options, though replacing the Ninth Street building, the old Hotel Richmond, with a new building or, alternatively, incorporating the two old hotels' facades into a large new building also ranked as possible options.
Skarmeas said the study tried to explore how to strike a balance between preserving important architecture, keeping costs reasonable and the needs for office and parking space.
Preservationist groups campaigned for the study as part of an effort to derail state plans to demolish the two hotels.
"We're pleased with the process," said Elizabeth S. Kostelny, executive director of the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities. "The commonwealth is looking at how to balance present and future needs with preservation."
Jim Roberts, director of the state Department of General Services, which is responsible for state-owned buildings, said officials from his department and from the Department of Historic Resources will study the report and make recommendations to Gov. Mark R. Warner.
The Murphy Hotel, built in 1913, was designed by John Kevan Peebles, the architect responsible for the 1904-06 expansion and renovation of the state Capitol, as well as an expansion of the Hotel Richmond. The Murphy's ornamentation was based on the lions' heads and fleur-de-lis that line the top of Rome's Palazzo Farnese, built in the mid-16th century by Michelangelo and Antonio da Sangallo the Younger.
In addition to its architectural significance, the Hotel Richmond, built in 1904, is rich with Richmond history. It was the home of WRVA radio's first studio, where country and western singer Sunshine Sue hit the airwaves; it was the traditional headquarters for Democratic candidates for governor; and it was owned and run by an ahead-of-her-time woman entrepreneur, Adeline Detroit Atkinson.
Contact David Ress at (804) 649-6051 or dress@timesdispatch.com