ELKHART, Ind. (WNDU) – The Hotel Elkhart was recently restored by Cressy Commercial Real Estate and Mno-Bmadsen, the non-gaming investment arm of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, as ‘500 Main, LLC’ and won the Indiana Landmarks’ 2024 Cook Cup for Outstanding Restoration. The project cost $19 million to revitalize the hotel.
Being the tallest building in downtown Elkhart, it was built in 1923 as a 117-room hotel. Later an addition of the hotel came in 1928 which added the Athenian Ballroom, and meeting rooms with efforts led by the Elkhart Chamber of Commerce.
“To see how the community has embraced this property affirms the investment to return it to vibrant use as a boutique hotel,” says Dan Boecher, project manager. “To be recognized by Indiana Landmarks in this way as folks who really know historic renovation and adaptive reuse is a stamp of approval for our efforts.”
Celebrities such as Bob Hope, Ed Sullivan, and Audie Murphy have stayed at the hotel over the years as the hotel served as a backdrop for Robert Kennedy’s 1968 Indiana Primary Campaign.
The hotel has been converted over the decades, serving as an accommodating building for senior and apartment housing. In the 1970s safety concerns were raised as the sprinkler system was nearly 50 years old, the ballroom’s plaster ceiling had a 30-foot hole due to a water-leak and meth lab activity.
The hotel now has 93 guest rooms, two restaurants, a ballroom, meeting space, a rooftop bar, fitness rooms, and commercial laundry facilities. It meets the standards to become part of Hilton Hotels’ Tapestry Collection with mechanical improvements to include new elevators, electrical, plumbing, HVAC, and sprinkler systems.
“The revival of Hotel Elkhart has not only restored one of the city’s outstanding landmarks but also inspired ripple investment in downtown, exactly the kind of community impact we seek to honor with the Cook Cup,” said Marsh Davis, president of Indiana Landmarks.
Within the project of reconstructing the hotel, builders have uncovered terrazzo floors previously covered with carpet, cove detailing in the lobby previously hidden by a drop ceiling and have installed full-height windows in the ballroom. These renovations were financially supported by the City of Elkhart, the state’s Regional Cities Program, the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs, Federal Historic Tax Credits, traditional financing, and developer equity.
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