It's check-out time for a colorful hotel Lincolnwood's Purple Hotel was built by

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It's check-out time for a colorful hotel

Lincolnwood's Purple Hotel was built by Hyatt in '60

Chicago Tribune - Chicago,IL

By Schroedter

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/northshore/chi-

0705021314may03,1,5101496.story?coll=chi-newslocalnorthshore-

hed & ctrack=1 & cset=true

A wrecking ball could soon reduce the Purple Hotel into a colorful

pile if a developer follows through with plans to buy the shuttered

Lincolnwood landmark.

Chicago-based Sertus Capital Partners LLC has a conditional contract

to purchase the 8-acre hotel property at Touhy and Lincoln Avenues,

a Sertus principal said.

Glazier declined to comment further, but Lincolnwood

officials said Sertus has stated it would demolish the seven-story,

293-room hotel in favor of residential and retail space. The Purple

Hotel, 4500 W. Touhy Ave., closed in January, less than six months

after Lincolnwood took owner Bae to court over what it

alleged were health code violations.

Following up on complaints from people who stayed there, inspectors

found mold growing behind wallpaper, beneath floors and in heating

ducts, said Lebegue, the building commissioner. According to

court records, mold was detected in 208 of the 225 rooms village

inspectors walked through.

" The bottom line is that the windows were failing and water was

getting into the rooms, " Lebegue said. " In some rooms, the mold was

so thick you could feel your breath. I know my eyes were burning

after an hour. "

Bae and his attorneys could not be reached for comment.

Built by Hyatt Corp. in 1960, the Purple Hotel, or Lincolnwood Hyatt

House as it was originally named, changed owners over the years,

with Radisson and Ramada among its operators.

The hotel's parking lot was where Dorfman, a reputed mobster

and associate of Jimmy Hoffa, was fatally shot by a masked man in

1983.

Pianist Myles Greene, one of the hotel's first performers, said the

halcyon days were in the 1970s when the Purple Hotel's lounge was a

swinging night spot.

" In its heyday, it was the place on the North Side, " said Greene,

who grew up in Lincolnwood. " All the entertainers used to stay

there. Barry Manilow, a Flack, Como. At that time, it

had the greatest pool. "

Today, the empty pool's deck is cluttered with white plastic lawn

chairs blown over by the wind.

A few lights are still on in the lobby, where cleaning supplies sit

next to a mound of clear plastic trash bags stuffed with towels,

bedding and curtains. In some of the rooms, the furniture has been

pushed against walls that have been stripped of wallpaper and paint.

" I'm sorry that someone doesn't take it over, clean it up and put

some new blood into it, " Greene said. " It's an eyesore now that

nobody's there. "

Other problems found during the September inspection included a

faulty sprinkler system, cluttered stairwells, a leaky roof and more

mold growing in the sauna and banquet room, according to court

records.

The village petitioned Cook County Circuit Court in September to

have the hotel closed until the violations were remedied. A judge

set a December cleanup deadline for Bae, president of Village

Resorts Inc. and owner of the Purple Hotel since 2004. Village

officials said Bae chose to close the hotel because a renovation

would have been too costly.

" It's sad, " Village President Jerry Turry said. " It's a landmark in

the village. Its roots go very deep in the lore and history of

Lincolnwood. "

" That was our only hotel, " said Lass, executive director of

the Lincolnwood Chamber of Commerce. " It has a great deal of history

attached to it -- both positive and negative. "