The exact page text, read by your browser's voice.
1923 – demolished 1974
Founded: Built 1922–23 by James F. Keenan at the southwest corner of Washington Boulevard and Harrison Street and formally dedicated 24 November 1923. Thirteen stories (twelve above ground, two below), designed by Charles Weatherhogg, who had designed the Anthony fifteen years earlier. It proclaimed itself "Fort Wayne's Largest and Finest Hotel."
Founder: James F. Keenan, Notre Dame graduate, of the Keenan hotel family (his father Hugh led the family's hotels in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Iowa). James had managed the rival Hotel Anthony from 1909 before building his own house three blocks away — one of four million-dollar Fort Wayne projects of 1922–23, alongside the First National Bank building, the Lincoln Life home office and the International Harvester plant.
What it did: The city's convention and celebrity hotel of the middle century; Presidents Harry S. Truman and John F. Kennedy were among its guests.
Fate: Demolished by explosives on 20 October 1974 — eleven blasts — nine months after the Anthony/Van Orman came down, clearing the downtown hotel generation in a single year. The site is now the Grand Wayne Center.
Sources:
- ACGSI, "Hotel Keenan" — dedication 24 November 1923; Weatherhogg; the Keenan family history and the Anthony management; the 20 October 1974 demolition; the Grand Wayne Center site.
- Journal Gazette, Corey McMaken, "1974: Explosive demolitions of Van Orman, Keenan hotels" (2019) — Truman and Kennedy as guests.