Jerry Summers
The Hotel Patten was erected in 1908 on 11th Street in downtown Chattanooga and was Chattanooga’s first skyscraper hotel.
The moving force for building the hotel was entrepreneur J.B. Pound, owner of the Chattanooga News afternoon newspaper. Pound had been an early proponent of a large hotel in the downtown area.
He had originally attempted to get Sam Read, owner of the Read House that was built in the 1870’s, interested in being an investor. Read, realizing that said new building would be a competitor of his establishment, turned Pound down.
Pound decided to build the hotel on his own with some help from other financiers, Z.C. Patten, Sr. and Pound’s nephew, John A. Patten.
J.T. Lupton who was married to the daughter of Z.C. Patten, would also become part of the investment team when he bought out John A. Patten’s share in the project.
When the hotel opened it was considered one of the finest hotels in the South.
Although Reuben Harrison Hunt was the leading architect in the era and had designed every major public building constructed in Chattanooga between 1895 and 1935, the investors chose W.T. Downing of Atlanta, Georgia to design the hotel. However, Downing had other projects in the Chattanooga area such as the Lupton Lyndhurst mansion in Riverview and Z.C. Patten’s Ashland Farm mansion in Chattanooga Valley. The Patten mansion still stands as a historical monument today while the magnificent Lupton mansion was razed and has been lost to history.
The Hotel Patten was considered a major step forward in the development of Chattanooga as an industrial center and more than just a railroad center and as a Civil War battle location in the South.
The grand opening took place on April 1, 1908, and the hotel was at full rental capacity. There were 251 rooms which 225 had private baths. The room rates began at $1.50 per night in 1908.
The building was constructed in what was known as the “Sullivan’s Que Style” named after famed Chicago architect Louis Sullivan who was called the “father of skyscrapers” and was a mentor to another famous architect, Frank Lloyd Wright.
Among the Hotel Patten’s interesting features were a billiard room, bowling alley, barbershop, and manicure parlors in the basement. The lobby featured a main dining room, a men’s café, a bar and kitchen. On the second floor mezzanine was a ballroom and orchestra room.
Over the years the Chattanooga Rotary, Civitan and Kiwanis Clubs held their weekly meetings on the premises.
When the Dixie Highway (U.S. 41) Association was created proposing a national highway system of 5,000 miles from northern Michigan to Miami an organizational meeting in Chattanooga at the Patten Hotel was held on April 3, 1915, with representatives from seven states in attendance. Hamilton County Judge Will Cummings and Circuit Judge M.M. Alison were both instrumental in the completion of the project in 1927. Presidents William Howard Taft in 1911, William G. Harding in 1920 and Senator John Fitzgerald Kennedy in 1953 were guests at the Patten as well as many other dignitaries. Noted criminals such as Al Capone and Jimmy Hoffa stayed at the hotel over the years.
In 1924 an expansion took place and 120 additional rooms were added. The penthouse was occupied with radio station WDOD, Chattanooga’s first radio station in 1925.
A chapter in Charles A. McMurry’s book, “Chattanooga, Its History and Geography” written in 1923, described the elaborate features of the hotel in great detail.
As railroad passenger service declined in the 1960’s and Chattanooga’s downtown area also suffered from a flight to the suburbs, the Patten also suffered from a decline in guests and tenants.
In the 1970’s it was closed as a hotel and became a residential facility for the elderly and disabled purchased by Lawler-Wood Associates of Knoxville, Tennessee under Section 8 of the HUD Regulations. That allows the federal agency to pay the difference between one fourth of a residents income and the fair market rent for his or her unit. There is a restriction that no rent can be above fair market value.
A series of new owners purchased the Patten beginning with Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance of Springfield, Massachusetts in 1968 through 2012 when the present Section 8 owner P.K. Management bought the property for $7.56 million from Patten Tower LPII.
In January 1978, many of the original hotel Patten furnishings were sold at auction and in October 1979, the name of the facility was changed to Patten Towers.
The property continued to deteriorate and fires occur at a high rate as reported by the Chattanooga Fire Department. Continual fire department responses took place.
Complaints about the quality of management services are often made by both tenants and political leaders with occasional directives to remove the occupants to other private and charitable facilities while repairs were taking place. Bed bug infestations have also been a problem. In 2018, a nearly $10 million renovation was announced.
The preservation of this historical building is always balanced against the need to provide accommodations for many of our less fortunate citizens. Supporters of the preservation of local history are often met with the political rhetoric of political leaders claiming that the tenants are being “dumped” out of their residences.
With the booming downtown development taking place in Chattanooga hopefully some solution will be found to balance and protect the interests of both groups.
* * *
Jerry Summers
(If you have additional information about one of Mr. Summers' articles or have suggestions or ideas about a future Chattanooga area historical piece, please contact Mr. Summers at jsummers@summersfirm.co
Hotel Patten