4814806 ACR 20-170, “Hotel Harrington 100th Anniversary Recognition Resolution of 2014”

A CEREMONIAL RESOLUTION

20-170 

IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

March 4, 2014

 

To honor the Hotel Harrington on the occasion of its 100^th anniversary, 1914 through 2014, and to declare March 6, 2014, as “Hotel Harrington Day” in the District of Columbia.

 

            WHEREAS, on March 1, 1914, something special happened in Washington, D.C. -- the city’s newest hotel, Hotel Harrington, opened its doors;

 

            WHEREAS, hotelier Harrington Mills and business partner Charles McCutchen built a hotel that met “popular one-room-and-bath-demand” -- an unusual concept in 1914;

 

            WHEREAS, Harrington Mills and Charles McCutchen officially opened their Hotel Harrington at 12^th and E Streets, N.W., on March 1, 1914;

 

WHEREAS, the 6-story hotel boasted a dining room and 2-story lobby finished in marble;

 

WHEREAS, upstairs, mahogany-trimmed hallways led to 100 rooms, all with running water and most with private baths;

 

            WHEREAS, in 1917, Mills and McCutchen doubled the size of the lobby and built a 12-story annex along E Street containing a 2-story ballroom and 135 rooms with private baths;

 

            WHEREAS, in 1925, the owners built one last addition, a 12-story wing along 12^th Street, holding another 125 rooms;

 

            WHEREAS, in 1938, the Hotel Harrington became the District of Columbia’s first air conditioned hotel and during post World War II the ceiling heights of the ballroom and lobby were reduced to one story, permitting the addition of 10 more rooms;

 

            WHEREAS, Hotel Harrington has strived to provide a comfortable home-away-from-home, not only for guests, but also for its employees;

 

WHEREAS, in 1948, Hotel Harrington instituted a profit-sharing plan for cafeteria employees, enabling the hotel to retain a loyal and capable staff;

 

            WHEREAS, the Hotel Harrington has always advertised itself as “the center of everything,” and in the mid- 20^th century became the location for the city’s first television station, W3XWT, soon renamed WTTG-TV;

 

            WHEREAS, WGMS-AM and FM radio station found a home in the Hotel Harrington, offering Washingtonians the finest in classical music, including live concert broadcasts of the Library of Congress chamber series, National Gallery of Art Orchestra, and National Symphony; and

 

            WHEREAS, after the April 1968 riots, when many downtown businesses closed, the Hotel Harrington kept its doors open.

 

            RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this resolution may be cited as the “Hotel Harrington 100^th Anniversary Recognition Resolution of 2014”.

 

            Sec. 2. The Council of the District of Columbia salutes and congratulates Hotel Harrington, a true Washington institution, and declares March 6, 2014, as “Hotel Harrington Day” in the District of Columbia. As the oldest continuously operating hotel in the city, it remains a family business, in the hands of third-, fourth-, and fifth-generation descendants of the original founders.

 

            Sec. 3. This resolution shall take effect immediately upon the first date of publication in the District of Columbia Register.