Carrillo Hotel

Old Carrillo Hotel

March 31, 2004 - Ed and the Giant Crane

Look up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s a tower crane! Spanning across the intersection of Carrillo and Chapala, the crane stands like a shrine to gods of downtown improvement. Cars bow before it (or at least slow down because of the traffic congestion), pedestrians run from its shadow fearful that something might fall on their heads, and dedicated staff members of edhat.com are left speechless in awe.

The crane is a Penier SK405 tower crane. It stands 121 feet tall and has a reach of 180 feet. It can lift 22,000 pounds. The manufacturer is Terex-Demag who is based in Germany. Terex Corporation who own Terex-Demag is based in Westport Connecticut. Recently President Bush was standing in front of a Terex-Demag crane in Birmingham Alabama to discuss the U.S. economy.

Today the crane is working hard to construct the new Carrillo Hotel, which will replace the old Carrillo Hotel, a fancy building built in 1923 that over time lost its fanciness. Prior to being demolished, it was a home for old people on fixed incomes. The demolition and reconstruction was the preferred alternative to earthquake retrofit. The displacement of the old hotel’s residence became a big issue in Santa Barbara a while back. It is never popular to kick old people out of their homes.

The new hotel will be a landmark – a high-end luxury property with 94 luxury rooms. There will be 5 stories above grade and 2 below. There will be pool on the top deck, underground parking, and a conference center. Construction should be finished by December. Then, Edward Thomas Hospitality Corporation of Beverly Hills will take over and begin operation.

New Carrillo Hotel

According to the architect the new hotel will be in ‘Andalucian style’. Andalucia is a region in southern Spain that includes Costa Del Sol and the city of Málaga, the birthplace of Pablo Picasso and Antonio Banderas. Who knows, soon the Carrillo/Chapala intersection, which, in addition to the hotel, is home to a Shell gas station, a Ralph’s grocery store, and the Greyhound bus station, might soon be called little Andalucia. Maybe in the summer there will be an Andalucia festival at Oak Park?

Germany, Connecticut, Alabama, Spain … this is starting to sounds like a George Thorogood song … “I met a German girl in England who was going to school in France Said we'd get to Mississippi at an Alpha Kappa dance.”

In the contest yesterday, subscribers picked all of the old hotels in town - Faulding, Santa Barbara, Californian, and Hotel Virginia. Twelve subscriber identified the right one. A random drawing chose Lostgirla as the winner of the prize. Maybe girla is lost, but she can sure find her way downtown.

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