SPH HOTEL COMPANY:

The SPH Hotel Company (hereafter SPH) was incorporated in May 1963 to build and operate a "first-class hotel" in downtown St. Paul (ultimately, Kellogg Boulevard and Wabasha Street). SPH contracted with the Hilton Hotel Company to operate the hotel. By 1975, Hilton's interest in the venture had waned, while the Radisson Hotel Company's had peaked. SPH entered into a limited partnership (St. Paul Joint Venture) with Capital Hospitality Corporation, a subsidiary of Carlson Companies, Inc., whereby Radisson would both manage the current property while also being allowed to build the nearby Radisson Plaza Hotel (later operated as a Holiday Inn).

In 1986, SPH and Radisson disputed the division of proceeds from selling the Plaza property, whence the Port Authority of the City of St. Paul (Port Authority) bought out Radisson's half of the St. Paul Joint Venture, though Radisson continued to manage the Kellogg Boulevard property. In 1992, attempting to redress financial obligations and prevent the hotel's foreclosure, SPH sold its interest in the St. Paul Joint Venture to the Port Authority. The Port Authority agreed to sell the Kellogg Boulevard property in 2005, which became the Crowne Plaza St. Paul-Riverfront Hotel the following year.

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Articles of incorporation, bylaws, meeting minutes, financial statements, business plans, hotel management contracts, other business records, and correspondence documenting a corporation's management of and fiscal responsibilities for a high-end hotel in downtown St. Paul, Minnesota.

Correspondence focuses on the activities of the SPH board, its accountants and lawyers, and its individual members. Additionally, correspondents include representatives from Hilton and Radisson hotels and the St. Paul Port Authority. Significant correspondents include Philip H. Nason (president of the SPH Hotel Company), Roger Katzenmaier (accountant for Wilkerson, Guthmann and Johnson, Ltd.), and Milton Altman (attorney, counselor at law, and eventual secretary of the SPH Hotel Company).

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These documents are organized into the following sections:

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Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. SPH Hotel Company. SPH Hotel Company records. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Accession Information:

Accession number: 15,996; 16,162.

Processing Information:

Processed by: Christopher G. Welter, June 2009.

Catalog ID number: 006917861

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Articles of incorporation, bylaws, and numerous contracts and agreements are located within the first three volumes. Exhibits referenced in the minutes are bound along with the minutes themselves unless otherwise noted.

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This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:

Hotel management -- Minnesota -- Saint Paul.

Hotels -- Minnesota -- Saint Paul -- Accounting.

Organizations:

Hilton Hotels Corporation.

Port Authority of the City of Saint Paul.

Radisson Hotel Corp.

St. Paul Joint Venture.

Places:

Saint Paul (Minn.)

Document Types:

Architectural drawings (visual works) -- Minnesota -- Saint Paul.

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