ROGERS -- The yellow bricks of the Lane Hotel could be seen through the window as Kay Calvin Sanford talked about growing up in the building during a Rogers History Club event Thursday night.
Sanford held up pictures of hotel staff for about 40 people crowded into the Rogers History Museum annex. The annex sits across the street from the hotel.
"The waitresses had nice white uniforms," Sanford said. "Their names were stitched onto the uniforms."
Some in the crowd started discussions about people they knew who worked as waitresses at the hotel.
The 1928 hotel recently came under contract for purchase after sitting vacant for more than decade, Craig Hull with Hull & Company Real Estate, has said. He said the contract is expected to close next month.
Hull said the buyer has declined to talk. He also refused to release the buyer's name.
The building has been under contract before with one starting in 2014 and expiring in March, Hull said. He said the most recent contract has been in place for several months and looks promising.
Current owners 92nd LP, a New Jersey company, have started moving items out of the hotel, Hull said. He said this includes donating furniture to the Rogers Historical Museum.
John Burroughs, museum director, said the museum has received some hotel furnishing original to when the hotel was built. This includes bed frames, a dresser with a mirror, nightstand and chair.
The items would have been in one of the hotel rooms, Burroughs said.
"It is a real connection to the glory days of the hotel," Burroughs said. "The furniture was used throughout the history of the hotel."
Burroughs said the items will be placed in storage until an exhibit can be organized.
Sanford came to live at the hotel in the 1940s after her father, Forrest Calvin, accepted a job as manager. He worked as a manager there into the 1950s.
The hotel was an attraction for the region, Sanford said. She said it was once known as the palace of the Ozarks.
Famous guests of the hotel include aviator Amelia Earhart, boxer Jack Dempsey and actor Errol Flynn, according to the city's website.
Sanford said the hotel also was a gathering place for the region and people who lived in Rogers. She said community groups often met in the banquet room.
"It was a community meeting space," Sanford said. "It was beautiful."
The dining room called the Orchard room also was a popular place for people in the community to eat.
"People would fill up the lobby on Sunday's after church to eat the fried chicken," Sanford said. "We also had a pastry chef, the pies were just wonderful."
The lobby was decorated in the latest fashion, Sanford said. It had green carpet and wood blinds.
"The drapes were green with a wonderful floral pattern that they did in the 30s," Sanford said.
The hotel has had several uses over the years, most recently as a retirement home. It also has had several different names including Harris Hotel and Hotel Arkansas.
NW News on 06/19/2015