The Mississippi Lofts and Adler Theatre is an apartment building and theater complex located in downtown Davenport, Iowa, United States. It is individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places by its original name, the Hotel Mississippi-RKO Orpheum Theater. The Hotel Mississippi was listed on the Davenport Register of Historic Properties in 2005.[2] In 2020 the complex was included as a contributing property in the Davenport Downtown Commercial Historic District.[3]
The Hotel Mississippi was the last large-scale hotel to be built in the third phase of hotel construction in downtown Davenport after the Davenport Hotel in 1909 and the Hotel Blackhawk in 1915.[4] The hotel and theater were designed by A.S. Graven of the Chicago architectural firm of Graven & Mayger. Henry Dreyfuss of New York City, an art consultant for the RKO chain, was involved with the theater but it's not exactly clear how. Contemporary accounts suggest he "was to provide an aesthetic sensibility and theatrical functionality to the theater derived from his years as a theatrical set designer."[5] Its developer, George Bechtel, organized one of the first investment bond houses in Iowa in 1891.[5] It specialized in buying and selling municipal bonds. He was able secure the means for the construction of the hotel during the Great Depression.[6] The complex was built by the Lundoff-Bicknell Company. It is situated on the site that was occupied by the Davenport Block, a commercial block built by Col. George Davenport, one of the founders of the city of Davenport and its namesake.
The hotel opened in November 1931 with 200 guest rooms and 50 apartments. It was initially operated by the Black Hawk Hotels Corporation of Davenport. The hotel struggled financially in the 1930s with an occupancy rate of about 25%. The hotel's restaurant and kitchen were located in the basement. Businesses such as a coffee shop, drug store, a clothier, realtor, floral shop and a beauty salon have been housed on the first floor over the years. By the 1970s the complex was owned by the Verdi Corporation, which was owned by prominent local realtor Mel Foster, Jr. and contractor Dudley Priester. The Mel Foster Company had its corporate headquarters in the building until the 1980s in what had been a Walgreens drug store location. By the early 1980s, the building had been converted into an apartment building.[5][7] During this time period the local chamber of commerce leased space on the first floor of the building.
The RKO Orpheum Theater was a 2,700-seat theater that was built at the same time as the hotel, which surrounds the theater to the south and west. It was one of five RKO Orpheum Theaters to open that year. It was also Iowa's largest movie house.[8] The theater featured then up-to-date cinema equipment and a fully equipped stage that could accommodate vaudeville shows, concerts, and Broadway roadshow productions. The planned pipe organ, however, was never installed. Its grand opening was held on November 25, 1931, with Ginger Rogers sending a telegram from Hollywood to begin the ribbon-cutting ceremony. Her movie, Suicide Fleet, and five vaudeville acts accompanied by the theater's house orchestra were the opening night entertainment. Because of its size and modern facilities, the Orpheum became the Tri Cities cinema showplace, and it hosted all of Hollywood's major releases.[5] Entertainers such as Tallulah Bankhead, Paul Robeson, Imogene Coca, Dorothy Lamour, Phil Ford, Forrest Tucker, John Barrymore, Liberace, Ella Fitzgerald, Pearl Bailey, Jack Benny, Sammy Cahn, Phyllis Diller, Jimmy Dean, Stan Kenton, The Beach Boys, Sonny & Cher, The Supremes, and The Pointer Sisters performed in the theater live.[5][8] The original ticket booth and seven display advertising cases remain in place at the main entrance.