MAQUOKETA, Iowa (AP) - Mary McAreavy Lewis paused and glanced up the grand staircase, her hand resting on the polished wooden banister.
The Maquoketa native who now lives in Melbourne, Florida, grew up running up and down those stairs and around the historic building’s hallways, chasing after prior hotel owner Jack Wherry’s son and daughter, the Telegraph Herald (https://bit.ly/26gFD3F ) reports.
“I probably know every inch of this place,” said McAreavy, 66, who returned to Maquoketa earlier this month to attend her mother’s funeral.
She recalled celebrating her parents’ 50th wedding anniversary in the hotel’s banquet room.
“I don’t think there was a bride in Maquoketa who didn’t get her picture taken on the hotel’s staircase,” McAreavy said. “There are three things you think of when you think of Maquoketa - Maquoketa Caves State Park, tenderloins and the Decker Hotel.”
Maquoketa Betterment Corp. purchased the hotel at the end of 2015 as part of multi-year effort to save the historic landmark and update it with modern amenities. Since then, the nonprofit community development group has restored and rejuvenated the hotel’s 17 guest rooms and specialty suites, as well a restaurant and neighborhood pub.
“I am just ecstatic that this happened,” McAreavy said. “All of us who were raised in Maquoketa, the Decker House is part of our history. . It’s grand to hear that it is going to be preserved.”
Formerly Decker House, Decker Hotel was started by New York transplant James Decker. He and E.R. Woley, of Watertown, New York, completed the original hotel in 1857.
Decker then enlisted a New York architect to build a hotel, the one that stands today on Maquoketa’s North Main Street. The three-story Italianate building was completed in the fall of 1877.
The hotel, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, became a retreat of hospitality and craftsmanship for salesmen, fur traders, touring politicians and occasional dignitaries. Among some of its well-known guests were Ulysses S. Grant, John Deere and, more recently, Norah Jones, according to Maquoketa Betterment Corp.
The hotel remained in the Decker family until 1971 and has had a colorful history of owners.
Most recently, Mike Quilty and his family purchased the hotel out of foreclosure two years ago. But when Quilty indicated he planned to sell the historic structure, the betterment group quickly stepped in, offering to purchase the hotel for about $245,000 to prevent it from being turned over to a salvage auction.
“Their intent was to remove all of the woodwork, doors and banisters and sell all of the antiques piece by piece, which would then leave an obsolete building,” said Maquoketa Betterment Corp. President Chuck Current. “Had we not gotten involved, we wouldn’t be sitting in the building today.”
The historic structure remains largely unchanged. The hotel’s interior has been slightly redecorated to give it a more professional look, including new linens and window treatments.
“Structurally, we haven’t changed anything,” Current said. “It was about developing the culture and guest hospitality attitude that was missing. We implemented a lot of boutique hotel practices and processes that have made a world of difference. We are promoting ourselves differently and reaching out differently.”
The hotel recently launched a new website and Facebook page and installed software so residents can book rooms online and take advantage of discounts through various travel sites.
“Six weeks ago, we were using a notebook to check people in,” said hotel manager Theresa Rodgers.
The betterment group also spent more than $10,000 installing Wi-Fi to cater to business travelers.
“An update and a refresh. . it’s a series of comically small changes every day,” Current said.
After almost 45 years, the betterment group also reopened the Buffalo Room. Located in the hotel’s basement, the room first opened after World War II when prior owner Jack Decker Wherry came back from the Navy.
The room was run as a key club, or a private social club, with prospective visitors required to pay a $1 membership fee to join the Maquoketa Sports Car Club.
“You brought your own booze in and paid $1 to have the bartender pour your own liquor,” said betterment group treasurer Joni Winegar. “It was the place to belong to.”
Today, the room - with the iconic red buffalo still emblazoned on the wall - is a casual lounge where locals and guests can enjoy a rotating selection of craft beers on tap and the full menu from the hotel’s restaurant.
Before its purchase, the betterment group said the hotel averaged a 2 to 4 percent annual occupancy rate.
Today, it averages a 10 to 15 percent occupancy rate and aims to hit 40 percent occupancy by summer, Current said.
“The grandeur of the building is unique to the area,” he said. “It’s been seen as landmark in the community for quite some time, and we intend to keep it that way.”
Current said the betterment group likely will continue to own and run the hotel for the next five to 10 years, but then would like to see the building sold to an owner-manager, not an absentee owner.
“We want to be selective in finding the right management team, which I think we’re convinced that we have, and making sure we can build this into the kind of attraction that it can be,” he said.
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Information from: Telegraph Herald, https://www.thonline.com
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