The 120-year-old St. Cloud Hotel building along Route 66 in Chandler, Oklahoma, has been placed on the market by its longtime owner.
John Givens, who has owned the property since the 1980s, said in a telephone interview he put it up for sale a few weeks ago because he needs to devote more time to care for his ranch and his 91-year-old mother.
The asking price is $400,000 for the building, which contains 30,000 square feet he said. It’s at 1216 Manvel Ave. (aka Route 66).
Though he said the building needs a lot of work, he wants to build a replica of the second-floor balcony, using old photographs to guide him.
The building hasn’t been a hotel in many years. When he first bought it, Given used the space for automotive exhaust work and custom hot-rod jobs.
One popular photo-op of the building is its second floor on the south side, with a mural that touts the hotel and Coca-Cola. Givens said the Coca-Cola corporation repainted the mural in the 1980s.
According to History’s Homes, the St. Cloud Hotel was built in 1903 by John E. Gromley, a local lumberman.
Gromley eventually owned several units on the street, which came to be known as Gromley’s Block. The hotel found its niche after 1926, when Route 66 formally opened in Chandler, sending travellers and tourists its way. Although now occupied by businesses, the old building still retains much of its original architecture, including the pressed tin facade which covers its second floor. The St. Cloud Hotel was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
Route 66 Times reports that in 1929, Charles and Daisy Evans bought the hotel, renamed it the Evans Hotel and added the south section of the building.
Those who are interested in buying the property should text Givens at (405) 863-5180.
(Image of the St. Cloud Hotel in Chandler, Oklahoma, via Wikimedia Commons)