Completed in 1965, the Pontchartrain Hotel was the first major hotel constructed in Downtown Detroit since the 1920s. The hotel was developed by local investors to serve and complement the Cobo Conference and Exhibition Center, constructed during the same period across the street. The hotel occupies the site of Fort Pontchartrain, Detroit’s first permanent European settlement, which was later renamed Fort Detroit.
The Pontchartrain Hotel was designed by the Detroit firm of King and Lewis who, between 1960 and 1970, designed the Campus Inn, Huron Towers, and Tower Plaza hotels, all in Ann Arbor. The firm also designed the Lafayette Park Shopping Center, an appendage to Mies van der Rohe’s Lafayette Towers apartment complex.
The “Ponch,” as it became known, is a twenty-five-story, high-rise hotel. In style, it is an example of Modern Expressionism. Occupying an entire city block, the building’s overall massing consists of concrete terraces surrounding a concrete base, which in turn supports the rectangular glass and steel tower that contains the hotel rooms. Its upper stories cantilever above the first story and have a saw-tooth profile. This angular plan allows for a variety of window views to the downtown area and to the Detroit River. The main entrance is centered on the Jefferson Avenue elevation and is now sheltered by a gable-roofed, glass marquee. A second entrance is reached via a set of concrete stairs from the Washington Boulevard elevation. The base’s roof forms a terrace, the scene of many past jazz concerts.
(Text excerpted from the Civic Center/Financial District Walking Tour script developed by the City of Detroit Historic Designation Advisory Board staff.)
