The building of the Fort Armstrong Hotel at the corner of 19th Street and
3rd Avenue received major coverage in the Seventy-fifth Anniversary Addition
of the Rock Island Argus. "No other factor in recent years has served more
to exercise the spirit of community cooperation in Rock Island than the
building of the Fort Armstrong hotel."
Local residents were invited to buy shares in the proposed hotel and in less
than two weeks 690 purchasers and invested over $450,000.00. With an
additional $300,00.00 in mortgage money the project was underway. The
general building contract was awarded to the Fleischer Engineering &
Construction Company of Minneapolis. But local companies got a lion's share
of the sub-contracts as outlined in the anniversary addition article. The
brick was furnished by the Rock Island Sand & Gravel company; the tile and
terrazzo work by the Cassini Mosaic & Tile company of Rock Island; the sand
and gravel by the Rock Island Sand & Grabel company; the steel by the Rock
Island Bridge & Iron Works; the millwork by the Rock Island Sash & Door
Works and the Rock Island Woodworks; the cement by the Rock Island Lumber
company. Three elevators, two passenger and one freight, were furnished by
the Montgomery Elevator company of Moline.
The nine-story hotel designed by Chicago architect Charles W. Nichol is
Italian Renaissance in style and was completed in 1924. The first and
second stories form a large square covering the entire building site. The
seven upper stories form a cross with four wings extending from the center,
giving every room an outside exposure. The building is constructed of red
pressed brick and the first floor is faced with Bedford stone. Terra cotta
detailing adorns the entire structure.
The interior of the building featured a grand two-story lobby with terrazzo
floors and marble trimmings. Sharing the first floor was a coffee shop,
dining room, private meeting rooms, offices and seven retail shops. The
mezzanine featured three additional dining rooms, a banquet hall and an
impressive ballroom. Tucked into the basement with the heating plant and
coal rooms was a barbershop, billiard room and bowling alley. The upper
floors contained 160 guest rooms and the building was topped with ten
apartments.
Today the Fort Armstrong is listed on the National Register of Historic
Places. It has been restored and is operated as an assisted living
facility. In addition, it offers banquet and meeting rooms open to the
public and visitors are always welcome to stroll through the grand lobby and
experience the elegance of a 1920's hotel.
|