Fenway Hotel

Fenway Hotel is a historic Jazz Age hotel building in Dunedin, Florida.

Construction

Building plans and funding plans were obtained in 1924[1] and construction of the hotel began the same year, before a hiatus due to financing problems. Construction was completed in 1927.[2]

History

The hotel operated seasonally until 1961 when it became home to Trinity College. In 1988, Trinity College moved to Pasco County. In 1991, Schiller International University purchased the property and kept it until 2005.

The Tampa Bay Times called the hotel building Dunedin's "most historically valuable structure". Herman Everett Wendell, who also designed the Suwannee Hotel in St. Petersburg, Florida was the building's architect.[3]

The 110-room hotel was home to radio station WGHB, the first in Pinellas County, which began broadcasting in 1925. [4] The station was named after developer George H. Bowes, and was the precursor to WFLA. [5]

Guests included Harley M. Kilgore, Kenesaw Mountain Landis, Stephen Early,[6] Alfred M. Landon

Restoration

Plans to restore the hotel and add two independent wings to the building, creating "a hotel with 132 rooms, a spa, a ballroom and a 150-seat restaurant, all surrounded by lush landscaping and a 6-foot-tall masonry wall", developed in 2007, raising traffic concerns from some residents.[10] An earlier plan for a larger redevelopment was rejected.[11] Redevelopment of the Jazz Age hotel stalled in 2010 over legal disputes and a foreclosure proceeding.[12]

On June 13, 2014, the non-profit organization, Taoist Tai Chi Society of the USA purchased the hotel for $2.8M to become its new national headquarters and a new international centre for its parent society, the Fung Loy Kok Institute of Taoism. [13] [14] [15]

Cottage

Fenway Cottage was built as part of the Fenway Hotel in Dunedin, Florida. Located adjacent to and south of the hotel, the cottage was built in 1938. A waterview property, the cottage faces the Saint Joseph Sound and the Intracoastal Waterway. Caledesi Island and Clearwater Beach skyline may be seen in the distance.

Seasonal rental of the cottage was common. Seasonal guests include Samuel H. Kress (1944,[18] 1945,[19] 1946[20]) who started the S. H. Kress & Co chain of retail stores and James H McGill (1941[21]), founder of McGill Manufacturing Co. of Valpariso, Indiana.

The cottage was acquired by Mainsail in 2016; previous owners include former Dunedin City Manager Richard A. Sexton, who lived there until his death in 1969,[22]