The Park Shelton is a historic condominium building located at 15 East Kirby Street (on the corner of Kirby and

Woodward Avenue A woodward is a Game warden, warden of a wood. Woodward may also refer to: Places ;United States * Woodward, Iowa * Woodward, Oklahoma * Woodward, Pennsylvania, a census-designated place * Woodward Avenue, a street in Tallahassee, Florida, which b ...

) in Midtown

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

. Built in 1926 as The Wardell hotel, the building was therefore listed under this name in the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 2007.

History

The Wardell was designed by Detroit architects Weston and Ellington and built by Bryant and Detwiler in 1926 as a residential hotel, intended for extended stays.Patricia Ibbotson, ''Detroit's Historic Hotels and Restaurants,''
Arcadia Publishing, 2007, , p. 57.

Architectural sculpture Architectural sculpture is the use of sculptural techniques by an architect and/or sculptor in the design of a building, bridge, mausoleum or other such project. The sculpture is usually integrated with the structure, but freestanding works that a ...

for the building was created by Corrado Parducci. The name comes from Fred Wardell, who owned the Eureka Vacuum Cleaner Company. Diego Rivera and his wife (and fellow artist), Frida Kahlo, lived there while working on his mural at the Detroit Institute of Arts. The Wardell was sold to Sheraton in October 1941, and renamed the Wardell-Sheraton Hotel in 1943, then the Sheraton Hotel, and finally the Park Sheraton Hotel in December 1951. In September 1952, it was sold to New Yorker Louis Schleiffer. As he could no longer use the Sheraton name, he changed the spelling just slightly, renaming the hotel The Park Shelton. It was the Detroit hotel of choice for such celebrities as

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in more than 70 short and feature films, with 5 ...

, George Burns, Gracie Allen, and

Raymond Burr Raymond William Stacy Burr (May 21, 1917September 12, 1993) was a Canadian actor known for his lengthy Hollywood film career and his title roles in television dramas ''Perry Mason'' and '' Ironside''. Burr's early acting career included roles ...

. In the 1970s, the Park Shelton Hotel was converted to apartments. In 2004,R. J. King, "Park Shelton to convert to condos," ''The Detroit News'' June 29, 2004. the Park Shelton was redeveloped into condominiums, creating 227 luxury units in the building."Midtown Living"
from Detroit Midtown, pp. 42-43 The newly refurbished building was opened in August 2004.The Park Shelton
from ModelD

References

External links

The Park Shelton
{{DEFAULTSORT:Park Shelton Apartment buildings in Detroit Residential buildings completed in 1926 Residential buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan National Register of Historic Places in Detroit Sheraton hotels