Savery Hotel (Hotel Savery)

401 Locust Street

Completed in 1919

Designed by HL Stevens Company

Georgian Revival – including festoons, urns, garlands, rosettes, fluted columns and balustrades. It also has a unique double façade on the south and east.

11 stories with red brick and limestone trim

NRHP 1998 Criteria A & C

James Savery built the original Savery at 4th and Walnut in 1853; he later sold it to an investment company and changed the hotel’s name to the Kirkwood Hotel.

Opened the Savery II at the current location in 1888.

In 1918, the Savery II was razed and the current building was built.

From 1942-1945 the hotel was used as the Induction Center and Supplemental Barracks for the WAAC’s; the army took over the entire building.

The WAAC’s would be off-loaded at the Rock Island Depot then they marched up Fourth Street to the Hotel Savery.

Lana Turner filmed the movie “Keep Your Powder Dry” at the hotel and at the Rock Island Depot.

Edward Boss bought the Savery in 1945 and added the penthouse for his private residence in the 1950’s.

1980 remodeling by Bloodgood Architects

Now the Renaissance Savery Hotel; in  2014 the building is undergoing a $8 M renovation – to keep true to the historic look but bring a modern flair.