UNION STATION HOTEL ADDS PRESIDENTIAL HOPEFUL HUCKABEE TO LIST OF LUMINARIES WHO HAVE TIES TO HISTORIC STRUCTURE –
Others include FDR, Mae West, Garth Brooks . . . and Al Capone
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Nov. 8, 2007)—Add Republican Party presidential candidate Mike Huckabee to Franklin D. Roosevelt, Warren G. Harding, William McKinley, Jimmy Carter and Al Smith on the list of White House residents or aspirants with ties to Nashville’s historic Union Station Hotel.
Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor, talked about education—not politics—as he helped Williamson Christian College, a Nashville-area institution, celebrate its 10th anniversary this week at the hotel.
The setting was the hotel’s towering lobby, originally Union Station’s grand concourse when Nashville had passenger train service. The building opened in 1900 and was converted to a hotel in 1986 after passenger service had stopped. A $10 million renovation was completed just weeks before Huckabee’s speech.
“This wonderful building has seen luminaries galore,” said General Manager Brett Miller. “Political figures such as Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt stand out, as do entertainers such as Mae West and sports figures such as baseball’s Dizzy Dean. It remains quite the place to be seen.”
The recent renovation included polishing the 128 panels of multi-colored stained glass that adorn the lobby’s barrel-vaulted ceiling, the opening of the Prime 108 restaurant, installation of a new marble floor in the lobby and a total makeover of all 125 guestrooms, no two of which are exactly alike.
“Gov. Huckabee is in some very well-known company. Garth Brooks shot album photography in this lobby just a few weeks ago, and at the other end of the spectrum, Al Capone caused quite a stir when the feds brought him through Nashville on the way to prison in Atlanta,” Miller said.
Union Station Hotel, a Wyndham Historic Hotel and a member of Historic Hotels of America, is one of Nashville’s most identifiable buildings. Many visitors consider it part of a Nashville architectural trifecta that consists of Union Station Hotel, the nearby Ryman Auditorium and the city’s replica of the Parthenon from ancient Athens.
It is owned by Turnberry Associates in Aventura, Fla., and the Nashville-based Corner Partnership. Complete hotel information is online at unionstationhotelnashville.com.
About Turnberry Associates
Founded more than 50 years ago by Donald Soffer, Turnberry Associates is one of the country’s leading full-service real estate development and property management firms. The company has to its credit the development of more than $7 billion in commercial and residential property. This includes approximately 20 million square feet of retail space, more than 7,000 luxury apartments and condominium units, 1.5 million square feet of Class “A” office space and in excess of 2,000 hotel and resort rooms. For additional information, visit www.turnberry.com.
Contact :Melanie Fly
Union Station Hotel
615-620-2182
mfly@turnberry.com
Tom Adkinson, APR
BOHAN Public Relations
615-341-3640
tadkinson@bohanideas.com