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Colonial Hotel to be rendered into rubble soon

In 1997 the Colonial Hotel was restored yet again. But now the hotel is in the hands of Beach Drive Development LLC and is scheduled for the wrecking ball to make way for the Ovation condos.

By SCOTT TAYLOR HARTZELL
Published February 12, 2006

ST. PETERSBURG - When Carrie Bond Thomas frequented the Colonial Hotel, she witnessed how much her father fancied his patrons.

"My father really enjoyed the ambience and the guests at the hotel," Thomas said of her father, Nin Bond, who owned the hotel from 1967 to 1990. "He held tea parties and fashion shows. There was entertainment. Events morning, noon and night. That was an era that is really gone."

By the end of February, the Colonial will be gone via the wrecking ball. A 40-unit condominium - Ovation - will rise in its place, featuring residences selling from $1.6-million to about $4.5-million.

"We will be removing the hotel within the next couple of weeks," said Steve McAuliffe, vice president of sales and marketing for JMC Communities. "Some sort of designation and memorabilia will establish the area as the former location of the hotel."

Between 1921 and 1922, the Colonial helped the number of hotels in the city leap from 53 to 72. Ernest H. Lewis handled the construction and operation of the hotel. He resided there, at 126 E Second Ave. N, telephone number 1124.

The hotel was listed in 1924 as the Colonial "to differentiate it from an African-American establishment named the Colonial Hotel located at 938 Second Ave. S," said Kimberly Hinder, a city planner.

The Christian-Boice Corp. operated the Colonial then, and John C. Boice managed and lived at the hotel. In 1930, developer C. Perry Snell's first residence here became the Colonial Hotel Annex.

"It oozed of charm," Thomas said of the former Colonial neighbor that today sits on the University of South Florida St. Petersburg campus.

"Fireplaces. A nice porch. We considered it part of the hotel. All one unit," she said.

On May 26, 1936, Colonial Hotel Properties Inc., headed by Steadman Hills, announced plans for a $30,000 renovation of the hotel. The three-story addition - designed by Architects Hadley, Nordstrom and Atkinson and built by R.E. Clarson - contained 24 bedrooms with sand-finished plaster walls. Each floor had a kitchenette and dining alcove, and an electric elevator was installed.

On July 7, 1942, the Colonial became part of the war effort as Basic Training Center No. 6. The hotel one year later became the location of the Army transportation corps and Marine officers cadet school.

By October 1945, Boice was supervising painters, plumbers and carpenters in preparation for the November tourist season and a return to civilian life. The renovation included finished floors and a white lobby decorated with mirrors.

"It's just like a new building," Boice said.

"Close to the waterfront," read a Colonial ad. "Within easy access of all points of interest. Beautiful view of the Yacht Harbor and Million Dollar Pier from our sun deck."

By 1948 James R. Bussey Jr. was managing the Colonial, which then had 64 rooms and 64 baths. The annex in the 1950s became the Colonial Fairview.

Pioneer hotelman Steadman Hills sold the Colonial in 1967 to Nin, William and Sam Bond, Mrs. M.W. King and William Tucker for $245,000. Initial renovations totaled $50,000, and a one-story addition was completed one year later on the lobby's east side.

"Exterior renovations have been completed," the St. Petersburg Times wrote, "including a glossy finish of white paint, and artisans are working at flank speed to complete interior improvements."

All the efficiency units were remodeled. Large fireplaces were installed to emphasize the colonial feeling, said Nin Bond, who then also owned the Bond, Pennsylvania, Ponce De Leon and Park Lane hotels.

Sam Bond Jr. was 18 and at school when his family purchased the Colonial. "It was almost a requirement to work at the hotels," he said. "There was summer cleaning at the Colonial. Hosing down the screens, about 160 of them. Moving furniture from hotel to hotel. Hundreds of pieces," he said.

In 1990, the Bonds sold the Colonial to Bay Plaza Construction for $1.48-million. The deal soured about 1995, however, and the hotel returned to the Bonds. "I don't think at his age, (Nin) Bond had the interest to run the hotel," lawyer George K. Rahdert said.

With John Jewel and Debra Roman Younger in 1997, Rahdert purchased the Colonial to preserve it. That deal also soured and required a court settlement. The hotel was then sold in 1997 to Colonial Bayfront Inc. and restored.

Today the Colonial is in the hands of Beach Drive Development LLC and is scheduled for the wrecking ball to make way for the Ovation.

"I have heard," Rahdert said. "That makes me sad."

--Scott Taylor Hartzell can be reached at hartzel@msn.com

[Last modified February 12, 2006, 00:26:20]