Misplaced Pages

#623376

18-559: The Normandie Hotel is a historic building located in the Isleta de San Juan , in San Juan, Puerto Rico which opened on October 10, 1942 as a hotel. Its design was inspired by the French transatlantic passenger ship SS Normandie in addition to featuring the same Art Deco design as the ocean liner that inspired it, and the hotel's original roof sign was one of the two signs that adorned

36-606: The San Antonio Channel ( Caño de San Antonio ). The island is hilly and rocky. With the exception of its western end and its south coast, the island is partially surrounded by cliffs, and promontories such as El Morro in its northwestern end. The population center of Isleta de San Juan can be divided into west and east. Its western part includes the neighborhoods ( subbarrios ) of Ballajá , Catedral , Mercado , San Cristóbal , San Francisco and Marina that constitute Old San Juan , and its eastern part constitutes

54-565: The University of Yale . The island was first mapped in 1519 with the intention of surveying possible sites for a future home for the settlers of Caparra . Road connection with the main island of Puerto Rico was not completed until 1519. The town of Puerto Rico de San Juan Bautista was officially founded on July 20, 1521. Construction of La Fortaleza , the Casa de la Contratación and Juan Ponce de León 's residence of Casa Blanca began

72-451: The 1970s, the hotel was restored in the early 1990s. Afterwards, it underwent massive renovations due to heavy damage caused by Hurricane Georges in 1998. After storm-related damages were repaired, the hotel remained in business until 2004, when another renovation project commenced. In early 2005, the 173-room hotel reopened after its refurbishing and would operate as a Boutique Hotel for 4 years, before closing again by late 2010, since then

90-552: The French singer Lucienne D'Hotelle  [ fr ] in 1927 or 1928; reportedly, he built the hotel as a wedding present for his bride. He served as the president of the Escambron Development Company, which was incorporated in approximately 1943 to issue bonds to finance the completion of the hotel. Escambron owned and operated the hotel. The hotel was designed by architect Raúl Reichard (1908–1996) and construction began in 1938. The hotel's exterior

108-616: The House of Representatives of Puerto Rico are two Puerto Rican Representatives who are elected by the party conferences that hold the majority and the minority respectively. These leaders serve as the chief House spokespeople for their parties and manage and schedule the legislative and executive business of the House. By rule, the Presiding Officer gives the Majority Leader priority in obtaining recognition to speak on

126-699: The San Antonio Bridges connect it with Isla Grande . Although no longer in use, the San Antonio Railroad Bridge is still preserved today. It used to provide railway connection between Old San Juan's Covadonga Terminal and the rest of Puerto Rico. Traffic into the island is normally closed during the San Sebastián Street Festival . List of Majority Leaders of the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico The majority and minority leaders of

144-413: The edges of all floors except the lobby, a pool outside in the back shaped similarly to the hotel's, and had blue or orange awnings above the windows on the upper floors until the hotel closed in the 1960s. Designers and artists from Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, France, and Spain all contributed to the hotel's overall construction. When it opened on October 10, 1942, it became an instant sensation among

162-415: The hotel has remained unused and vacant for over a decade. The Normandie Hotel was purchased on August 8, 2013, by Ben Medetsky and Jack Polatsek of Interra Capital Group for nearly US$ 4,000,000 but after initial plans for redevelopment of the hotel, the group decided to sell it. In 2015, the owners removed the hotel's historic roof sign in order to protect and preserve it, and only the structure that held up

180-477: The island's social elite. Completed at a cost of more than US$ 2,000,000, the hotel catered to many major Hollywood and Latin American film stars such as Cantinflas , Libertad Lamarque and Jorge Negrete . The hotel also served as a performing arts venue for many of Puerto Rico's top entertainers, such as Ruth Fernández , Myrta Silva , Sylvia Rexach , and Carmen Delia Dipini . The coastline of Puerto Rico

198-530: The letters of the sign remains. Although various groups of investors attempted to purchase the property in 2014, then in the spring of 2017 and again in the spring of 2018, it wasn't actually sold until January 2022. Majority Leader Ángel Matos García ( PPD ) filed Joint House Resolution 0089 in March 2021; if passed, the Puerto Rico Department of Economic Development and Commerce would seize

SECTION 10

#1732775284624

216-454: The neighborhood of Puerta de Tierra , location of many of Puerto Rico's government buildings such as its capitol building. The historic Normandie Hotel is located in the Isleta de San Juan. Its population in 2010 was about 7,000. Isleta de San Juan is connected to the main island of Puerto Rico by three bridges and a causeway. Dos Hermanos Bridge connects it to El Condado , while

234-495: The property and demolish the hotel. The Institute of Puerto Rican Culture made a statement opposing the resolution two days later. Later that year, despite rumors to the contrary, Hard Rock International denied that it was interested in the hotel. The hotel was purchased by the Ishay Group for US$ 8.6 million, who plan to restore the hotel and reopen it, possibly converting some rooms into residences. The Normandie Hotel

252-436: The same year. With the establishment of a port and other militaristic infrastructure, the original colonial settlement of San Juan kept growing in size until the 18th century when the town of El Roble (today Río Piedras ) took its place as the largest urban center in the region. Isleta de San Juan is a small island measuring 3-square-mile (7.8 km ). It is separated from the main island of Puerto Rico by El Boquerón and

270-540: The top deck of the SS Normandie but were removed from it during an early refitting. It is an example of what came to be known as the Streamline Moderne architecture style. As of 2021 the building was vacant and not in operation and in 2022, was sold to private owners who said they plan to renovate it. The Normandie Hotel was the brainchild of Puerto Rican engineer Félix Benítez Rexach . He married

288-616: Was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1980. and to the Puerto Rico Register of Historic Sites and Zones in 2000. Isleta de San Juan Isleta de San Juan had been inhabited since before the Spanish arrival to the Caribbean in 1492. Remains of a shell shed and a fishing site were uncovered in 1937 (near the modern-day Puerto Rico National Guard Museum ) in by archaeologist Irving Rouse from

306-450: Was designed to resemble the famed luxury ocean liner, elongated and curved in front and back, with porthole-shaped lights on the facade of the 6th floor, as well as on the front on all floors except the front entrance and 2nd floor. Inside, the hotel features art deco design, complete with Roman , Egyptian , and French details, high ceilings, corridors looking down into a central skylighted atrium , banisters that resemble those on ships on

324-503: Was expropriated by the federal government for defense during World War II, including the hotel, and Benítez Rexach, who had moved to the Dominican Republic in 1944, reportedly protested by refusing to pay his property taxes. However, court records indicate Benítez Rexach had argued unsuccessfully that as an American citizen without congressional representation, he was exempt from federal taxes. After being closed and abandoned in

#623376