Purple Hotel
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Purple Hotel
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The Purple Hotel in July 2012
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| Location | 4500 West Touhy Avenue, Lincolnwood, Illinois |
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| Coordinates | 42°00′44″N 87°44′30″W / 42.01222°N 87.74167°WCoordinates: 42°00′44″N 87°44′30″W / 42.01222°N 87.74167°W |
| Built | 1960 |
| Architect | Hausner & Macsai |
| Architectural style | Modern |
| NRHP Reference # | 13000553 |
| Added to NRHP | July 31, 2013 |
The Purple Hotel, also known as the Hyatt House Hotel, was a hotel located at 4500 West Touhy Avenue in Lincolnwood, Illinois. Built in 1960, the hotel was Hyatt's first Midwest hotel and became known for its purple brick exterior. The hotel served as Hyatt's flagship Chicago area hotel until the 1970s and featured two restaurants and live music from popular acts. In 1983, Teamsters lawyer and alleged mobster Allen Dorfman was killed in the hotel's parking lot. After a series of ownership changes, the hotel closed in 2007 and was demolished in August 2013. The hotel was added to the National Register of Historic Places in July 2013.
The hotel opened in 1960 as the Lincolnwood Hyatt House. Architects Hausner & Macsai designed the building in a modern design. The source of its unusual purple exterior is disputed: an owner claimed it was intended to be dark blue and the purple was a manufacturing error, while the original architect claims that his clients had specifically chosen the purple bricks against his recommendation. The hotel's amenities included two upscale restaurants, Tessy's and T.J. Peppercorn's; an outdoor pool, which one visiting pianist called "the greatest"; and live entertainment from musicians such as Perry Como, Roberta Flack, and Barry Manilow.
The hotel became known for a murder in 1983, when Teamsters lawyer and alleged Chicago Outfit mobster Allen Dorfman was shot in its parking lot. Dorfman had recently been convicted of conspiracy to bribe a U.S. Senator and was likely killed to prevent him from releasing information to authorities in exchange for a lighter sentence. The hotel also hosted swingers parties in the 1980s; according to convict Stuart Levine's testimony in two corruption trials, the parties were notorious for sex and heavy drug usage. In the 1990s, the hotel changed ownership and was operated by Radisson and Ramada, until it simply became known as the Purple Hotel in 2004.
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