THE VACANT YEARS
by
Steven Lawson
With the closing of the Northwood Institute in 1983, the hotel has been vacant since that time. Many times the future of the hotel seemed to be questionable. Although the building sat empty, an incredible history continued.
In 1985 H. Eugene MacDonald bought the hotel and sold the property in a sale-leaseback package to Marlin Properties of Los Angeles, a historical renovation firm. Marlin Properties made some improvements and damaging changes to the building. Then the firm went bankrupt, leaving the property entangled in litigation for years.
The hotel was designated as a National Historic Landmarks in 1987. In 1992-1993 the Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana received permission from the court receivership to make $200,000 worth of emergency repairs to stabilize the collapsed wall and stave off further deterioration, even though they did not own the building.
Minnesota Investment Partners purchased the hotel in 1994 from a Los Angeles bankruptcy court receiver for $500,000, which was provided by Grand Casinos Inc. In 1995, Grand Casinos lobbied to amend the Indiana state law to allow riverboat gambling on a body of water it purposed to build on the hotel property. During 1995 the General Assembly failed to enact the "boat on a moat" legislation, which would have allowed a floating casino on the grounds. Grand Casinos announced it would sell the hotel for $800,000, the amount they had invested.
In 1996 the Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana purchased the hotel for $250,000, which was contributed by an anonymous donor. Over the next three years, Cook Group, Inc., a corporate benefactor, invested millions of dollars in a partial restoration project.
REFERENCES
Brancolini, Gino. "West Baden Springs: Save of the Century," PBS documentary, Bloomington, IN: Indiana University, March 14, 1999.
"Time Wears Away Historical Old Hotel," The Daily Citizen, March 6, 1991.