I was a freshman at the Univ. of Pittsburgh at Johnstown in 1965-66 when the Fort Stanwix Hotel still existed. It was torn down a year later, I was told, to let the hospital expand. It was a truly grand hotel, with three sublevels, a radio station on the first one. They did baking down on a lower level. There was a ballroom on the 8th floor with a stage with red velvet curtains. We students lived in the hotel as a dorm that year till the new dorms out of town (in Roxbury?) were built. Girls and boys lived on different floors. In the lobby was a barbershop, and other shops, the old lunch room became out cafeteria. A bar led off the lobby, which I think was called the Steel Bar. When it was a dorm the bar served only non-alcoholic drinks. And besides, the drinking age was 21. I loved the place and it holds fond memories for me.
I remember as a young teenager, Frankie Avalon had a concert at the War Memorial. He stayed at the Fort Stanwix in the second or third floor. He opened the window of his room and threw autographed photos of himself out the window to the many screaming girls standig on the street below.
I was a freshman at the Univ. of Pittsburgh at Johnstown in 1965-66 when the Fort Stanwix Hotel still existed. It was torn down a year later, I was told, to let the hospital expand. It was a truly grand hotel, with three sublevels, a radio station on the first one. They did baking down on a lower level. There was a ballroom on the 8th floor with a stage with red velvet curtains. We students lived in the hotel as a dorm that year till the new dorms out of town (in Roxbury?) were built. Girls and boys lived on different floors. In the lobby was a barbershop, and other shops, the old lunch room became out cafeteria. A bar led off the lobby, which I think was called the Steel Bar. When it was a dorm the bar served only non-alcoholic drinks. And besides, the drinking age was 21. I loved the place and it holds fond memories for me.
ReplyDeleteI remember as a young teenager, Frankie Avalon had a concert at the War Memorial. He stayed at the Fort Stanwix in the second or third floor. He opened the window of his room and threw autographed photos of himself out the window to the many screaming girls standig on the street below.
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