Hotel Congress facts for kids

The old lobby of the Hotel Congress from 1919.

The Hotel Congress is a very old and important building in downtown Tucson, Arizona. It opened on November 18, 1918. The hotel was designed by architects William and Alexander Curlett from Los Angeles. It was part of a plan to make Congress Street bigger and was built near the Rialto Theatre. The back of the hotel faces the historic Amtrak train station.

Besides being a hotel, the building also has a restaurant, a bar, and a place for live music. The name "The Congress Hotel" was chosen in a contest in 1918. A person named Dorit Dinkel won $15 for suggesting the name! Since 1985, the owners, Richard Oseran and Shana Oseran, have helped make Downtown Tucson a lively place.

The Hotel Congress is famous because a well-known bank robber, John Dillinger, was caught there in 1934. After some bank robberies, Dillinger and his group came to Tucson to hide. On January 22, 1934, a fire started in the hotel's basement. It spread up to the third floor, where the group was staying under different names. They escaped using fire ladders. When firemen helped them get their luggage, they realized who the group was. Dillinger was later moved to a jail in Crown Point, Indiana, but he escaped again. He was eventually caught in Chicago.

The Hotel Congress building was added to the National Historic Register in 2003. This means it's recognized as an important historical site. The hotel also won a special award from Fodor's travel guide in 2006 and 2008.

The original architects were Alexander and William Curlett. A newspaper article from 1920 mentioned that A. E. Carlette (Curlett) designed both the Rialto Theatre and the Congress Hotel. After the fire in 1934, a local architect named Roy Place rebuilt the upper floor. He made sure it looked just like the original design.

Club Congress: A Music Hotspot

A reenactment of the Hotel Congress fire during Dillinger Days in January 2008.

In 1985, a music venue called Club Congress opened inside the hotel. It quickly became a popular place for bands to play in Tucson. In 2005, a local artist named Daniel Martin Diaz redesigned the stage. The new design was even called the "Best Functional Art Installation" by Tucson Weekly in 2006. Even ZZ Top guitarist Billy Gibbons has said that the Tap Room at Hotel Congress is his favorite bar!

Club Congress is known as one of the oldest music venues of its kind west of the Mississippi River. Because of its long history, Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano announced on July 25, 2005, that Labor Day Weekend would be known as "Club Congress Weekend." In 2004, the hotel's entertainment director, David Slutes, started a three-day music event called "HOCO Fest."

Inside the Historic Hotel

The inside of the Hotel Congress still looks much like it did in the 1930s. This was when the famous bank robber John Dillinger and his group were caught there. Walking through the hotel is like stepping back in time!

See also

In Spanish: Hotel Congress para niños