The Hotel Blackhawk is an eleven-story brick and terra cotta building located in Downtown Davenport , Iowa , United States. It is a Marriott Autograph Collection property.
41-596: The hotel is connected to the north building of the RiverCenter , Davenport's convention center, and across the street from the RiverCenter south building. The hotel is just down the street from the Adler Theatre . The Blackhawk has been host to several high-profile people including Presidents Barack Obama , Herbert Hoover , Richard Nixon , writer Carl Sandburg , and boxer Jack Dempsey . Actor Cary Grant
82-575: A $ 1 million contribution for an endowment. The theater was renamed the Adler after newspaper publishers E.P. Adler and his son Philip, both of whom led Lee Enterprises. Renovations, which included increasing the size of the stage, took place in 2005 and 2006. The theater is home to the Quad City Symphony Orchestra and Ballet Quad Cities . It hosts Broadway touring companies and other productions and performances. The theater and
123-668: A Junior Ballroom was constructed and the Gold Room was enlarged. A new dining room called the Pompeian Room was opened. The new additions cost $ 25,000 to complete. Space on the mezzanine level could accommodate 1,000 diners. A sidewalk canopy replaced a marquee over the main entrance in 1955. In 1967 the hotel was sold to George Norman & Co. who in turn sold it to the Blackhawk American Corporation two years later for more than $ 1 million. The hotel
164-415: A casino plying the waters of New York City which never materialized. The company ultimately filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2002 and has now divested itself of all its gambling operations. In 2006, Connelly was the subject of a family battle with his adoptive daughter Audree Wirginis to wrest control of the company on the basis of competence. He was ultimately removed as chairman of his companies. In
205-462: A major renovation of the Blackhawk in 1978. The multimillion-dollar project was completed the following year. More than 7,000 people showed up to tour the renovated hotel on September 15, 1979. The Sundance Social Club opened as the hotel's restaurant. The Blackhawk was part of the "Super Block" development that opened in 1983. It was the first phase of the city's convention center that would be named
246-407: A renovated Gold Room. A bowling alley was re-created in the basement level and shops were incorporated into the main level along with a restaurant and lounge. A new fitness center and a swimming pool, as well as a business center, were also created. RiverCenter RiverCenter is a convention center located in downtown Davenport, Iowa , United States. It is made up of two buildings sited on
287-536: A separate entity they will advertise and market themselves together. All three entities form one complex that is connected by skywalks and includes a total of 116,700 square feet (11,000 m) of space. On March 6, 2013, the owner, Hotel Blackhawk, LLC, entered the property into the Marriott Autograph Collection of luxury hotels, a group of independently owned and operated hotels associated with Marriott Hotels and Resorts. The Hotel Blackhawk
328-728: Is connected by skywalks and includes a total of 116,700 square feet (11,000 m ) of space. John E. Connelly John Edward Connelly (August 12, 1925 – May 16, 2009) was an American entrepreneur . He founded the Gateway Clipper Fleet in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania, pioneered riverboat casino gambling along the Mississippi River via his President Casinos empire and founded a fleet of ships operating out of Chelsea Piers in New York City . He
369-532: Is now a Four Diamond hotel (AAA), managed by Innkeeper Hospitality Services, LLC of St. Louis, and has been voted the best hotel in Iowa for the last three years by Business Insider. It continues to be a major force behind the resurgence of Downtown Davenport. The Hotel Blackhawk was designed by the Davenport architectural firm of Temple & Burrows. Davenport architect Arthur Ebeling served as an associate on
410-849: The Robert E. Lee floating restaurant. All of the boats formed a steamship row docked at the foot of the Gateway Arch . In 1990, Connelly acquired the President which was on the National Register of Historic Places in Davenport, Iowa . He also acquired the Blackhawk Hotel in downtown Davenport which is also on the National Register. Iowa was the first state to legalize riverboat gambling in modern times and
451-697: The Sheraton Hotel at Station Square in 1981. In 1971, he was the Democratic nominee in a race to replace Representative Robert Corbett who had died in office. He lost to John Heinz . In 1983, Connelly acquired control of World Yacht, a dinner cruise company in New York City founded by Neil Heap and Peter Simonetta in 1969. Connelly got access to three berths in the Chelsea Piers and was instrumental in its redevelopment. He expanded
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#1732801054112492-491: The Moderne style of the nearby Hotel Mississippi , built in 1931. The building is 140 feet (43 m) tall. It is U-shaped to allow for windows in all the rooms and to allow for air circulation and light. The structure is covered in dark-colored bricks that contrast with the white terra cotta. This surface combination sets it apart from the surface monochrome of dressed stone that was being used in other commercial buildings in
533-944: The President became one of the first casinos to open. In 1992, he acquired the President Casino Broadwater Resort in Biloxi, Mississippi . It was the second casino on the Gulf Coast in Mississippi. In 1992, Connelly formed President Casinos . In 1993, he converted the Admiral in St. Louis to be one of the first casinos in Missouri after that state legalized gambling. As a pioneer in gambling in three states, stock soared. Connelly held one-third of
574-519: The RiverCenter. The hotel would also serve as the convention center's caterer. John E. Connelly , a Pittsburgh developer, bought the hotel in 1990 and it became a part of his gambling enterprise that included the President riverboat. The hotel passed to the Isle of Capri Casino in 2000 when it bought the Davenport riverboat gambling operation. On February 12, 2006, a fire started in a meth lab on
615-560: The city. An elevator shaft was added to the east side of the building in the 1978–1979 renovation. Originally the lobby contained a two-story atrium, but it was enclosed in later years to create additional meeting space. The atrium was restored as a part of the 2010 renovation to the building. A new entrance was also added to the east side of the building facing the parking lot. Upon its 2010 re-opening, Hotel Blackhawk includes 20 one- and two-bedroom apartments, 130 guestrooms, nine extended-stay rooms and banquet and meeting facilities that include
656-802: The company entered into an agreement with the St. Regis Mohawk Indian Tribe to develop a land-based casino in the Catskill Mountains in New York. It would lose $ 4.1 million on the project which was never built. President Casinos entered into a planned casino in Gary, Indiana which fell through. It lost $ 11 million when a proposed casino in Philadelphia fell through. In 1995, it closed its money-losing casino in Tunica, Mississippi . The company pitched
697-535: The company stock and he was worth $ 107 million. His total net worth of $ 370 million had him on the Forbes list of richest Americans. He entered the bidding to bring an expansion team to St. Louis after the St. Louis Cardinals left the city. However, the stock soon plummeted as Illinois legalized riverboat gambling and more casino competition arose. Further complicating matters, the Great Flood of 1993 forced
738-537: The construction of the Blackhawk Hotel, the Saratoga Hotel occupied the land. On February 16, 1915, the first seven floors (225 rooms) of the "New Fireproof Hotel Blackhawk" were completed. The building was built at a cost of $ 1 million by Davenport businessman W.F. Miller. McCarthy Improvement Company was the general contractor. In 1920 the remaining stories, eight through eleven, were added and it gave
779-403: The construction project. It features Italian Renaissance design elements along with modern Art Deco . The Italian Renaissance is featured on the rusticated stonework on the entry-level, the granite pedestals and terra cotta pilasters on the corners of the main façade, and the decorative pediments of the windows on the second floor. The Art Deco elements are found in the rolled of the corners of
820-595: The early 1990s, Connelly pledged $ 13 million of the $ 20 million required to build the Domus Sanctae Marthae , a hotel at the Vatican where cardinals and other dignitaries would stay on visits to the Vatican (and where they stay during elections of Popes). When he made the pledge his shares of President Casinos were worth $ 107 million but by 1996 his share of stock was valued at $ 14.7 million. Connelly cut
861-489: The eighth floor. The hotel had been deteriorating steadily since it was purchased by the Isle of Capri. The City of Davenport took over the property from the Isle of Capri. In October 2008, a development agreement was signed which gave ownership of the property to Hotel Blackhawk, LLC, an affiliate of St. Louis-based developer Restoration St. Louis, Inc. The company announced plans for a $ 46 million-plus restoration. BSI Construction
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#1732801054112902-481: The fleet to three boats. In 1988 World Yacht was purchased by Circle Line for $ 35 Million. In 1981, he acquired the largest excursion ship plying the Mississippi River —the SS Admiral in St. Louis, Missouri from Streckfus Steamers. He sold it to investors in 1982. He began managing it again in 1988 and reacquired it in 1990. He also acquired the excursion boats Huck Finn and Becky Thacher as well as
943-746: The former Hotel Mississippi, which surrounds it, are listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Hotel Mississippi-RKO Orpheum Theater. On September 22, 2010, the RiverCenter/Adler Theatre, Hotel Blackhawk, and the Radisson Quad City Plaza Hotel announced a cooperative marketing agreement branding themselves the “Quad Cities Event Center.” While each remains a separate entity they advertise and market themselves together. All three entities form one complex that
984-549: The hotel 400 rooms. Walsh Company was the general contractor for the addition. In 1916 the Blackhawk Hotel Corporation expanded with the purchase of the Davenport Hotel , which is located two blocks to the west. Over the next twenty years, Blackhawk Hotels purchased properties in St. Paul, Minnesota and Des Moines and Mason City, Iowa . The corporation was reorganized in 1935. That same year
1025-404: The hotel to low-rent housing was delayed in early 1972, and Blackhawk American Corp. announced that the hotel would remain open despite the setbacks. On January 20, 1972, plans for converting the Blackhawk to elderly housing were dropped. On December 13, 1973, stockholders were told the hotel was bankrupt. A foreclosure lawsuit was filed against the hotel on March 14, 1974. A U.S. Marshal 's sale of
1066-547: The lengthy closure of the casinos. By 1996 his share of stock was valued at $ 14.7 million. His Mississippi efforts were challenged by Jack E. Pratt of the Pratt Hotel Corporation which said it had the rights to develop the Broadwater Resort. Although the case was dismissed, Connelly paid out $ 1 million. He sold the Iowa casino after Illinois legalized gambling on its side of the river. In 1993
1107-408: The north and south sides of East Third Street connected by a skywalk . The Adler Theatre is connected to the original section of the convention center on the north side of the complex. Planning for the RiverCenter began in the late 1970s. The working name for the facility was the “Community Activity Center," also known as “Superblock.” The facility was built in the early 1980s and opened in 1983. It
1148-655: The pledge to $ 7 million and received a contract to exclusively sell reproductions of Vatican art in the United States. However, the deal was eventually halted after he could not market the art beyond Pittsburgh. His donations to Saint Louis University resulted in the school renaming the main dividing street for the campus from "West Pine Mall Boulevard" to "John E. Connelly Mall". Connelly died of congestive heart failure on May 16, 2009, at his home in Indiana Township, Pennsylvania , north of Pittsburgh. He
1189-492: The property on June 28, 1974, failed to produce a buyer as did an auction in November of the same year. The Small Business Administration , who now owned the hotel, considered selling the property for less than the $ 820,000 they had put into the building. The Blackhawk was sold to Blackhawk Hotel Associates, a subsidiary of Knightsbridge, for $ 1.2 million on January 28, 1975. An auction of the hotel's furnishings and accessories
1230-490: The terracotta pilasters and the streamlined feeling in general of the form itself. The simplified Renaissance Revival style of the hotel is in keeping with the Neoclassicism of other major commercial buildings that were being built at the time in Davenport. When the top four floors were added it required the removal of the building's original cornice . The resulting termination of the structure makes it more similar to
1271-508: The theater are owned by the city of Davenport and they have been operated by VenuWorks of Ames, Iowa since 1998. The Adler Theatre is a 2,400-seat performing arts center. It opened as the RKO Orpheum Theater on November 25, 1931. The Art Deco style theater was designed by A.S. Graven of Chicago . Henry Dreyfuss of New York City designed the interior. Restoration of the old RKO Orpheum began in 1981. Lee Enterprises made
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1312-415: The two sections of the facility. Kaiserslautern Square Park, named for one of Davenport's sister cities, was built to the west of the new building. The expansion of the RiverCenter was paid for in part by contributions from Riverboat Gambling, which came to the area in 1991. The Perry Park Green Space was completed on the south side of the building along East Second Street in 2002 The convention center and
1353-632: Was a member of the Democratic Party . Connelly was born on August 15, 1926, in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania. His parents died when he was 16. He was a coal miner and edited a newspaper at Sharpsburg, Pennsylvania . In the 1940s he was a Congressional assistant for Congressman Harry J. Davenport . In the early 1950s, he founded J. Edward Connelly in Pittsburgh, which pioneered the concept of incentive marketing , or giving away products at banks and supermarkets in order to attract business. He
1394-514: Was called the father of the practice and was called to testify before Congress after merchants complained it was an unfair practice. While being treasurer of the Allegheny County Sanitary Authority which was cleaning up Pittsburgh rivers he came up with the concept of starting excursion boats to show that the rivers around Pittsburgh had been cleaned up. In 1958 he started the Gateway Clipper Fleet . He acquired
1435-528: Was commissioned to provide artwork for the RiverCenter. He created Tower 1984 and two wall drawings. They were Davenport's first public art project. The tower, which was designed for a plaza that was never built, was moved to the plaza in front of the Figge Art Museum in October 2004 and one of the wall drawings was moved to the museum at a later date. A feasibility study was conducted and it
1476-541: Was designed in a modern, open industrial look. The original building connected the Adler Theatre on the west and the Blackhawk Hotel on the east. Together they formed a convention and entertainment complex for the Quad City area. The facility offered 20,500 square feet (1,900 m ) of space in a large hall and six breakout rooms. An atrium was built over what was Perry Street. Minimalist artist Sol LeWitt
1517-453: Was determined that the RiverCenter could be expanded. In the fall of 1993 the expansion opened on the south side of East Third Street, across the street from the Blackhawk Hotel. It was also designed in a modern industrial look and added 49,000 square feet (4,600 m ) to the facility. A second atrium covered Perry Street, another large hall, four break out rooms and an executive board room were added. A skywalk above East Third Street connected
1558-478: Was held the following month. In June of that year phase one of a nearly $ 1 million renovation was completed. A year later the Davenport Bank and Trust Company foreclosed on the hotel's $ 990,000 mortgage. Judge Max Werling ordered the Blackhawk closed on June 29, 1976. The bank bought the hotel in October of that year at a sheriff's sale for $ 1 million. The building sat empty until Phillips Enterprises began
1599-571: Was once again renovated in 1969. The following year the hotel upgraded its heating system from coal and oil to natural gas. Plans to convert the hotel into a 300 unit low-rent facility for the elderly were announced on October 13, 1971. A petition for foreclosure on the mortgage was filed in Scott County District Court on December 16, 1971. Financing by the Federal Housing Administration to convert
1640-526: Was selected as the general contractor for the project. Demolition work began in January 2009 and renovation work commenced in April of the same year. The hotel re-opened on December 15, 2010. On September 22, 2010, the RiverCenter/Adler Theatre, Hotel Blackhawk, and the Radisson Quad City Plaza Hotel announced a cooperative marketing agreement branding themselves the "Quad Cities Event Center." While each remains
1681-545: Was staying at the Blackhawk Hotel when he died in Davenport. The hotel named rooms 412–414 the "Nixon Suite". Big bands such as Guy Lombardo and Stan Kenton played at the Blackhawk on many occasions. It has been individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Blackhawk Hotel since 1983. In 2020 it was included as a contributing property in the Davenport Downtown Commercial Historic District . Before