A group of Frank Lloyd Wright enthusiasts and preservationists have taken on the restoration of the architect's last standing hotel, the Park Inn Hotel in Mason City, Iowa. The 1910 landmark has fallen into disarray in the past few decades, but a private group called Wright on the Park Inc. is planning to renovate and rejuvenate the structure. Ann MacGregor, executive director of the group, says the hotel will have 20 suites when it reopens to the public in early 2011.
The structure made headlines in 2004 when the Mason City Council listed it on eBay for $10 million. The ad did not allow bidding but was intended to find a buyer who would restore the hotel. When no one came forward, Wright on the Park stepped in. The group says that the project will cost $18 million and that it has only about $2 million left to raise.
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