Take a peek inside this 112-year-old Fresno hotel as it finally reopens to the public

Time has changed Hotel Fresno.

Time, three demolitions and more than $43 million.

The long-abandoned, eight-story mid-rise officially reopens Thursday morning with an event that welcomes downtown’s latest mixed-use project: 81 units of market-rate and affordable housing alongside four restored commercial spaces.

“It’s the first time the general public is allowed into the building,” says Miguel Arias, who represents Fresno’s third city council district and has been an advocate (and kind of unofficial liaison) for the project.

“And the first time the residents will be allowed in this space.”

By this space, he means the hotel’s iconic first floor, which has been fully restored close to its original state, as is required of a 112-year-old building that is on local and national historic registries.

“The most modern hotel in Fresno”

Hotel Fresno was built in 1912 as the largest (250 rooms) and most luxurious hotel between Los Angeles and San Francisco. It was not only the spot for the city’s civic and social gatherings (with its lavish atrium lobby and dinning hall) it was also the go-to for celebrities during their stays in town.

Notable guests included actor Gary Cooper, boxing stars Jack Dempsey and Joe Louis, and a young Richard Nixon, whose wife Patricia, held a reception at the hotel during a visit in 1962.

The hotel held onto its grandeur through the 1930s and was “the most modern hotel in Fresno,” as reported by The Fresno Bee at the time. It even had air conditioning.

During the 1950s and into the ‘60s, the hotel saw its first set of renovations (a “self-operating elevator” was installed) and also a series of ownership changes. The hotel was converted into senior housing in the late 1960s and operated through the 1970s, during which time The Bee reported its owners were taking in less than $20,000 a month in revenue (with $37,000 worth of expenses). The building was officially closed in 1983 following a lawsuit filed by residents who had spent a winter with no heat.

For nearly 40 years, the building was vacant and fell prey to break-ins, vandalism and damage from rain and birds. There have been no fewer than six attempts to renovate the historic property over the years, but none took.

A look inside

During a tour of the space on Monday morning, any signs of prior neglect are hard to find.

The hotel lobby, originally designed to resemble San Francisco’s Palace Hotel, almost glows in stark white. The original tile floor runs the length of the room, which is lit with natural light that pours in from a glass ceiling. The original panes have been long replaced.

A fireplace serves as the focal point along the back wall, though it’s no longer used. Missing is the pipe organ (one of three that were installed in Fresno by the Robert Morton Organ Company in the early 1900s) and two large paintings of Yosemite landscapes.

Those paintings now hang nearby inside Warnor’s Theatre, though Arias is trying to get them returned to their original home.

It’s hard to see from the ground floor, but an intricate molding runs around the ceiling, pieces of which had to be recreated to match the original. The wooden banisters as you head upstairs are the original hardwood, ornately twisted as they run from the lobby to the second floor.

Glow-in-the-dark stickers have been added, per current safety regulations.

If you look hard enough, you’ll notice spots where the marbled appointments on the walls and pillars don’t quite match. That’s because the material was reclaimed from other parts of the building in an attempt to preserve as much of its original integrity as possible.

If there is a visual cue of the damages time and neglect left on the building, it is the large mural in the first floor stairwell.

Painted in 1927 by a 19-year-old dishawasher-turned artist named Charles “Chas” Maroot, it shows an Arabian scene done in oil on plaster. It is said to depict Italian actor Rudolph Valentino dressed as a sheikh, leading a woman on a camel though the desert.

The painting was an iconic piece of public art that was all but forgotten when the building was abandoned.

It was rediscovered during the building’s rehabilitation, mostly intact, but covered in grime and graffiti. There was money set aside to have members of Maroot’s family repair and repaint the mural, but those plans were vetoed by the state’s office of historic preservation. The mural has been cleaned and cleared of graffiti, but otherwise left alone.

There are chunks of plaster missing, along with a large section of the paint at the bottom of the piece.

Commercial spaces available

Running alongside the atrium lobby are the project’s four commercial spaces, now open for lease.

One is the hotel’s original pillared ballroom, which has new hardwood floors (the original flooring was beyond repair), ornate molding and plaster work. A series of large windows runs the length of the building, facing Mariposa Street. That will eventually become a through line, connecting the High Speed Rail station and nearly 600 units of new housing that is being planned in the area (including a project near the vacant CVS building on Fulton Street).

Arias envisions this space as a cafe, perhaps, serving the building’s residents along with the 1,000 or so employees at the IRS building next door.

The other commercial spaces could be used for retail, office or event space, Arias says. At some point there could be on-site child care. It’s something the tenants are asking for, he says.

The first residents began moving in upstairs in December, even as construction was finishing on the bottom floor.

The 81 units range from 500-square-foot studios to three-bedroom apartments meant for families. There are laundry facilities and trash chutes on every other floor and any number of common spaces. To keep the historic nature of the building, the units were designed around its structural integrity (for instance, the large windows that can be seen from the street).

This means that each unit is somewhat unique in its layout and design. Some units have more or larger windows than others. Some will have a view of the high-speed rail complex, which is planned to sit just across H Street. Others have views of Chukchansi Park and the neon sign on the Crest Theatre.

Around the building there are tell-tale signs of life.

Ring cameras are attached to several of the apartment doors. There are already some Halloween decorations up; it being the spooky season. From the elevators, you can hear the shout of children.

“We had a hard time convincing families,” Arias says.

“Families aren’t used to living in tall buildings.”

The fact that they now can is symbolic of the potential in downtown Fresno and a proof of concept. These historical buildings can and should be repurposed, he says.

“The best was to preserve historical properties is to use them.”

This story was originally published October 3, 2024 at 5:30 AM.