Post by mrjamie on Oct 15, 2008 12:11:10 GMT -6
For generations of New Orleanians, the Fairmont Hotel -- formerly the Roosevelt and, before that, the Grunewald -- was the place for family celebrations, nightclub acts, political victory parties and, around Christmas, a stroll through the block-long lobby, transformed for the holiday into an ornament- and light-laden cave of faux snow.
They were the stuff of memories, and for two hours Tuesday afternoon, 16 people with long memories and an endless supply of stories gathered over lunch to share their reminiscences about the 115-year-old hotel, which has been closed since Hurricane Katrina. A $135 million renovation is under way, and it is scheduled to reopen next year as, once again, the Roosevelt.
Ad man Peter Mayer spoke blissfully of jitterbugging in the Blue Room with Maxene Andrews of the fabled Andrews Sisters. Gunter Preuss, the former executive chef, described crafting a moonscape out of lard after the first lunar landing. George Schmidt of the New Leviathan Oriental Fox-Trot Orchestra talked of having his first legal taste of alcohol -- three Ramos Gin Fizzes -- at the Sazerac bar. Marilyn Barnett, the hotel's spokeswoman for 12 years, related the profanity-laden tirade from a manager in the early 1970s when he insisted that the Christmas decorations, a fixture as long as anybody could remember, had to go.
The lavish decorations returned in 1994.
And then there were Huey P. Long's green silk pajamas.
The flamboyant politician, who kept a suite at the hotel, triggered international tut-tutting when he wore the vivid brocade outfit to greet the captain of a visiting German ship who was paying a courtesy call.
www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2008/10/fairmont_hotel_will_reopen_nex.html
They were the stuff of memories, and for two hours Tuesday afternoon, 16 people with long memories and an endless supply of stories gathered over lunch to share their reminiscences about the 115-year-old hotel, which has been closed since Hurricane Katrina. A $135 million renovation is under way, and it is scheduled to reopen next year as, once again, the Roosevelt.
Ad man Peter Mayer spoke blissfully of jitterbugging in the Blue Room with Maxene Andrews of the fabled Andrews Sisters. Gunter Preuss, the former executive chef, described crafting a moonscape out of lard after the first lunar landing. George Schmidt of the New Leviathan Oriental Fox-Trot Orchestra talked of having his first legal taste of alcohol -- three Ramos Gin Fizzes -- at the Sazerac bar. Marilyn Barnett, the hotel's spokeswoman for 12 years, related the profanity-laden tirade from a manager in the early 1970s when he insisted that the Christmas decorations, a fixture as long as anybody could remember, had to go.
The lavish decorations returned in 1994.
And then there were Huey P. Long's green silk pajamas.
The flamboyant politician, who kept a suite at the hotel, triggered international tut-tutting when he wore the vivid brocade outfit to greet the captain of a visiting German ship who was paying a courtesy call.
www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2008/10/fairmont_hotel_will_reopen_nex.html
