Single room occupancy hotels (SROs) were built to house the burgeoning workforce in Spokane at the turn of the century and were to be found by the dozens in downtown Spokane at the time. The Morgan Building has somewhat of a peculiar history in that it has both grown and shrunk over time. Built as a six story hotel, a seventh floor was added son after. In 1941 a fire sufficiently damaged the seventh floor that it was removed, leaving the building once again with six store. Then, nearly six decades later, in 1999, the fire which took out the Arlington Hotel next door again damaged the upper floor, leaving the Morgan Building, by that time renamed the Fairmont Hotel, with the five store it sports today.
This is also one of the few remaining Spokane buildings which has retained some of the original cast iron pilasters on the ground floor façade. I count four of them across the front, all built by the Union Iron Works of Spokane.
Morgan Bldg/Fairmont Hotel
314 W. Riverside Ave. - Historic Name: Morgan Bldg/Fairmont Hotel
Built: 1909 - Style: Commercial Vernacular
Builder: unknown - Architect: Alfred Jones
Classification: Historic Contributing
Description: The Fairmont Hotel is a five-story brick building with a flat roof and a stone foundation. It is a double-front
structure, with facades facing both Sprague Avenue and Riverside Avenue, to the south and north, respectively. Two open light wells, rising from the second floor level, are located within the building's interior. Recently a high, flat parapet, constructed of concrete blocks, has been built around the cornice. A tall pediment is centered over each facade. This parapet wall is a reconstruction of an earlier one destroyed by fire. The exterior upper walls of both facades are identical, featuring three bays of windows. Those to either side have square window openings, with flat brick arches and decorative brick keystones. Windows in the central bay are joined in sets of three, the topmost being crowned by a brick segmental arch
embellished with decorative brick keystones. The sides of the central bay are delineated by decorative brick quoins. The windows are all metal sash double-hung.
The north-facing storefront is not original but is compatible with typical historic storefronts of the period, with recessed entries, and large display windows with transom windows. Much of this appearance is the result of recent remodeling, but the original iron storefront frame is incorporated into the design. This consists of several plain columns supporting a horizontal entablature with a frieze of rectangular panels. The south-facing storefront, although
currently being rebuilt, also contains visible iron frame remnants, including four cast iron columns, one featuring a scalloped texture, that were built by Union Iron Works of Spokane.
Cultural Data: The Fairmont Hotel was built in 1909 as an SRO. An adjacent SRO, the Arlington Hotel, was destroyed by fire in 1999. Daniel Morgan, a local real estate dealer who recognized the need for more housing to accommodate the burgeoning work force, financed construction of the hotel. Alfred Jones, a local architect, was commissioned to design the building. Originally the building had six stories, as illustrated in a photograph dating to 1929. Shortly afterward a seventh story was added.
In 1941, a fire swept through the upper floors of the building, completely destroying the seventh floor. When the damage was repaired in 1943, the seventh story, along with a pedimented parapet displaying the word "Morgan", was removed. The building was then reopened as the Fairmont Apartments. In 1999, the Arlington Hotel fire caused damage to the upper floors of the Fairmont Hotel once again. Recent remodeling has further reduced the height of the building, from six stories to five, but reconstruction of the pedimented parapet has somewhat restored the original profile. The storefronts of the Fairmont Hotel have undergone tremendous turnover through the years and have, as a result, been extensively altered.
From the NRHP Nomination Form