Contract Let for the Carolina Inn. . . John Sprunt Hill, Representing Carolina Club, Has Been Motive Force. . . Former Graves Place Is Site
The moving of the former Graves house at the west gate of the campus to make way for the Carolina Inn will begin surely not later than the first part of next week, and it may even begin before this week is over. John Sprunt Hill of Durham, representing the incorporators of the Carolina Club, has let the contract for the construction of the Inn to H.L. Smith, also of Durham, and the laying of the foundation is to follow immediately the clearing of the site.
Completed and furnished, the Carolina Inn will cost about $200,000. It will be ready for occupancy early in 1924.
Mrs. Daniels has been occupying as a tenant the house that is now to be moved out of the way. It was acquired by Mr. Hill from Mrs. Graves two years ago. There has been some curiosity as to what Mrs. Daniels will do about her boarding house, now that she has to move out. She is understood to have made arrangements to accommodate her boarders, but the nature of these arrangements has not been disclosed.
For several years there has been talk of the dire need of a hotel in Chapel Hill. Faculty and students have talked about it continually, and so have alumni and friends of the University everywhere. Definite action toward relief of the present situation was taken for the first time when Mr. Hill bought this piece of land on the edge of the campus. Not long after the purchase he made known that it was to be used for a hotel. The club which is eventually to take possession of it is Mr. Hill’s idea, and he has been the motive power behind the scheme from the first. He has offered as a gift the land, value at $30,000, and in addition $10,000 in cash.
The Carolina Club is to be made up of alumni and friends of the University. The Inn is to be run by them, primarily for the benefit of people visiting the institution, but there is to be nothing about the project that will exclude any reputable person who wants to be a guest.
Arthur C. Nash, architect for the T.C. Atwood Organization, is the designer, and that concern will have supervision over the construction. The plans show a building in the Southern Colonial style, with two full stories and a dormer story. All floors and partitions will be of fireproof construction, but the cornices, veranda, porte-cocheres, and trimmings will be of wood. The dominant idea in the design has been to give the structure an old-fashioned, home-like appearance, as though it might have been in Chapel Hill since the early days of the University.
A two-story veranda, 70 feet long, reminiscent of the Washington home at Mount Verdon, is to run along the Cameron avenue side. From this paved terrace will run around the east side—facing what is now the Chapel Hill-Pittsboro-Pinehurst road—and connect with a one-story veranda across the rear, or south, façade. From the road on the east, automobiles will come under a porte-cochere. The door here gives access to a large general reception room, a ladies’ reception room, and the lobby.
Fifty-two rooms for guests will be provided, eight or 10 of them double, and each will have a bath.
There will be a centrally placed ballroom connecting directly with the ladies’ reception room and with the service and dining rooms. The intention is to rent out the ballroom for dances, banquets, and meetings of various sorts, but the arrangement is such that these affairs will not interfere with the normal life of the inn. The entertainment section of the house can readily be closed off from the lobby and main dining room and sleeping rooms.
Kitchen, pantries and serving rooms will be ample to take care of large crowds of people, such as come to commencement or the more important athletic games. In the basement will be a laundry, machine room, and heating plant.
The Graves house will be moved to a new position somewhat to the south of the inn, and will connect with it by a one-story passageway. Thus it can be used as a students’ boarding house, and meals can be served from the kitchen of the inn. A few extra guests’ rooms will be obtained by the utilization of the second story of the old house.
From the front page of The Chapel Hill Weekly, March 29, 1923
No comments:
Post a Comment