Oklahoma City is increasing their hotel room space in the Downtown/Bricktown area in order to become even more competitive in the convention trade. Many local residents consider the reopening of the Skirvin Hotel to be the most exciting addition. On February 26th the doors opened for business for the first time since 1988.
What about Bill
Oilman, entrepreneur, and risk-lover Bill Skirvin built the hotel just after Oklahoma became a state. (1907). He joined forces with his friend and architect Solomon Layton to make plans for a small hotel (six stories) on the corner of Park Avenue and Broadway. Before the hotel was completed Layton and Skirvin were supposedly having some late night drinks and by early morning convinced each other the hotel really needed to be larger to accommodate the growth being experienced in the city. Additional supplies were ordered immediately, and the original Skirvin was ten stories tall. At a later date four more stories were added.
Mr. Skirvin was a hands on manager and moved his family into the hotel. His children kept their pets on the roof. The most famous of his children was Perle Skirvin Mesta, well known in Washington D. C. as" the hostess with the mostest." The Broadway Play, Call Me Madam, was based on her life story. President Harry Truman appointed her Ambassador to Luxembourg.
