Dubuque Inn
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The Best Western Dubuque Inn was a former Best Western hotel located in Dubuque, Iowa. It was one of two Best Western hotels to be located within the city. The hotel was located at 3434 Dodge Street (U.S. Highway 20). The Dubuque Inn was built in 1971. The hotel was remodeled in 1995, and continued to serve until its closure on March 31, 2005. The hotel was located near Kennedy Mall and Wacker Plaza - which the local Target anchors. The hotel was owned and operated by local residents John and Jody Van Duyn.
The Dubuque Inn had 154 guest rooms, with either two double beds or one king bed. Some of the rooms overlooked the indoor pool area. The hotel featured two regular suites. It also featured conference / hospitality suites that were a combination of a hotel room and a small meeting space. The hotel was noted for its large swimming pool.
The hotel had eight meeting rooms, ranging in size from 432 square feet up to 4,500 square feet. The smallest meeting room had a capacity of 30 people, the largest could hold 500 people. In total there was 7,184 square feet of space for meetings and other events. The hotel had an on-site catering service, as well as audio and visual services for groups.
The Dubuque Inn hosted Nicholas Perrot's Restaurant - which was named after an early settler. The hotel was also the home of the Brass Ring Restaurant and Nite Club. The Brass Ring was a particularly popular night spot in the local community. The Brass Ring featured live entertainment - in particular a live weekly comedy show.
[edit] Closure
In recent years, a number of new hotels were opened in the Dubuque area. In recent times, a new hotel next to the banks of the Mississippi called the Grand Harbor Hotel and a new Hilton hotel next to the Dubuque Greyhound Park and Casino were built. Many in the hotel industry felt that the Dubuque area hotel market was getting saturated. The Van Duyns had decided that they wanted to leave the business because of this saturation - and they stated that they were averaging under 50% occupancy.
They put the Dubuque Inn, plus the local Days Inn - which they also own - up for sale. H&M Properties of Dubuque bought the Dubuque Inn property. H&M Properties was lead by Richard Hartig - owner of the Hartig Drug store chain, and local businessman Marty McNamer. In early March it was announced that the hotel was going to close on March 31st. This caused problems for a number of groups that needed to reschedule their events at other locations - especially weddings.
On March 31st, the Dubuque Inn was closed. Shortly afterwards, two auctions were held. One auction was held to dispose of the restaurant equipment, and another was held to dispose of the hotel equipment.
Originally, H&M Properties was going to demolish the hotel, and replace it with a retail center. This new retail center was going to consist of several stores, and would be anchored by a Hartig Drug Store. In the months following the sale however, they found that a number of hotel chains were still interested in building in Dubuque. Eventually, Hartig and McNamer decided to revise their plans. Their new plans called for the building of a 97 room Hampton Inn on the site of the old Dubuque Inn, along with a nationally known restaurant chain, as well as retail space. Both H&M Properties and Hilton Hotels - who owns the Hampton Inn brand name - have stated that they feel that such a hotel would work.
In July of 2005 most of the old Dubuque Inn was gutted, and the lobby and restaurant portions of the building were torn down. In addition some of the hotel rooms from the existing structure were also demolished. What remained was the wing at what had been the rear of the hotel. H&M Properties have said that structurally the building is still in very good shape as it was made out of steel and concrete. They intend this part of the old Dubuque Inn structure as the base for the new hotel.
Since the demolition of the parts of the hotel not being rebuilt, work has proceeded on rebuilding the remaining portion into a new Hampton Inn. Currently, the exterior of the hotel building is in the process being refurbished, and the hotel is planned to be opened sometime during the summer of 2006.
[edit] The Pool
The Dubuque Inn featured an indoor swimming pool, which was built in early 1975. For many years, it was rumored that Patricia "Stacy" Spahn of East Dubuque, Illinois had been murdered and buried in the ground underneath the Dubuque Inn's pool, and that the pool had been built over her. She was last seen at 2 AM on February 11, 1975 after leaving a lounge with two men to go to a party. The men gave one of Spahn's friends an address where she could pick up Spahn later, but the friend found that the address didn't exist when she went to get Spahn.
Police interviewed a number of witnesses, and conducted polygraph tests on several individuals. Witnesses identified the men Spahn left with, but both men refused to take polygraph exams. Eventually a lead surfaced that Spahn had been buried under the swimming pool. But law enforcement never had enough evidence to conduct a search for her body. The case went cold after several years and was not actively being investigated.
On August 3, 2005 crews tore out the indoor swimming pool. The police were on hand as the pool was being removed to see if Spahn's body was in fact present. The police felt that the possibility of Spahn being buried there was unlikely, but at the same time they felt they couldn't pass up the opportunity. After searching for some time, police came to the conclusion that Spahn's body was not buried under the pool. Police had went down as far as five feet below where the surface of the pool had been, and had not found anything.
Even though the search did not turn up a body, police felt that the search wasn't a wasted effort. Investigators were finally able to put the rumor to rest, and reassure Spahn's family that she was not there.
[edit] Sources
- 1. Block, Emily. Body Under Hotel's Pool? Dubuque Telegraph Herald, August 1st, 2005 Edition. 2005 Dubuque: Woodward Communications, Inc.
- 2. Wiedemann, Katie Dubuque Pool Turns Up No New Leads. Article from the KCRG web site. Date Accessed: August 3, 2005. 2005 Cedar Rapids: Cedar Rapids Television Company.
