Week 11: Building the San Marcos Hotel

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The 1911 completion of Roosevelt Dam seemed to ensure a steady supply of water for the valley.  Dr. Alexander J. Chandler and his business partners realized that the 18,000 acres of Chandler Ranch would be much more valuable as real estate than farm land. They hatched a plan to create a new community on the south side of the Salt River that would become known as Chandler. At the center of this new town would be a grand resort hotel, the likes of which Arizona had never seen. That hotel would become the San Marcos Hotel.

Dr. Chandler was interested in opening a hotel for more than a decade.  He originally planned the grand resort to be constructed in Mesa, but for various reasons those plans fell through.  Dr. Chandler then turned his eye towards Chandler Ranch as a location for the resort. His development company, the Chandler Improvement Company, funded the construction of the hotel.  He selected a California architect, Arthur Burnett Benton, as the man to design the crown jewel of his empire. Benton was noted for his love of California missions, and his work on the Mission Inn in Riverside, CA.  He designed the hostelry in a style known as Mission Revival, reflected in the building’s arched windows and doorways, and its centralized courtyard.  

Dr. Chandler wanted the building to be fireproof.  The resulting steel reinforced concrete building was the first of its kind in Arizona.  Dr. Chandler hired the Los Angeles firm of C. B. Weaver Construction to build the hotel, a company that Benton had hired at the Mission Inn.  Work began in the summer of 1912, and Dr. Chandler hoped that the hotel would open that fall.

 Unfortunately, the chosen method of construction delayed the project.  Rock and cement were shipped form far and wide to the townsite to make the concrete. However, there simply wasn’t enough steel rebar to complete the project in a timely manner. Despite shipping the rebar from as far away as Pueblo, CO, construction dragged into 1913. To add to the challenge of construction, the Pacific Fireproofing Co. installed the Kohn system of fireproofing, a series of metal and plaster partitions, which added more construction time and labor to the project.

Work progressed in stops and starts under three separate superintendents of construction, William R. Hoag, Harry S. Jennings, and Joe Cashman. Slowly the facility with its distinct ribbed ceilings that maximized its strength rose out of the desert.  Local bricks from the Chandler Brickyard, were made specifically for the San Marcos.  Miles of copper wiring and more than 1,500 electric lights would ensure that the building, the first in Chandler to be electrified, would glitter throughout the day and night.  All of the electrical systems were also constructed of state of the art fireproof conduit by chief electrician S. S. Bradley, which added another layer of complexity to the project.  

Finally, on November 22, 1913, the San Marcos Hotel opened for business with much fanfare and a grand opening celebration.  Five hundred people attended, including Vice President Thomas Marshall, Arizona Governor George W. P. Hunt, and Representative Carl Hayden. Though it took a much longer to construct than he hoped, the hotel became Dr. Chandler’s home and he lived on its grounds until his death in 1950. Since its opening, this shining jewel has been the center of downtown Chandler and an important part of our community. I am sure that the good doctor would be pleased that it was still a vibrant part of the dynamic community that bears his name.