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IU Union Club Hotel Opened in 1947

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Blog post by Randi Richardson

union hotel

Postcard of the new Union Club from the collection of the author.

In the 1940s, hotel accommodations in Bloomington were woefully inadequate.  For that reason, hotel accommodations at the Indiana Memorial Union on the IU campus were expanded by opening the Union Club Hotel as an annex to the existing facility in the Spring of 1947.

The new Union Club, which included a dining room that could accommodate 105 patrons, was located directly north of the Union building.  It was once used by the officers club at Bunker Hill.  After being sawed into twelve sections and disassembled, it was moved to the IU campus by truck.

It could accommodate 125 guests in 89 beautifully appointed, single and double bedrooms with a suite of three rooms on the first floor.  The dining room was scheduled to offers meals three times a day and open seven days a week to the public.

In January 1950, Eleanor Roosevelt spent the night in the Union Building and had lunch the next day at the Union Club.

Source:  Bloomington (Monroe County, Indiana) Evening World, April 11, 1947, p. 7.

Comments (2)

  1. Gerald L (Jerry) Spore

    Reply

    In 1949, when WTTS first went on the air, Sarkes Tarzian threw a big dedication program at the IU Auditorium, followed by a reception at the Union Club. Hoagy Carmichael was invited as a special/performing guest. I was able to meet Hoagy at the reception and obtain his autograph on the program. The program may be viewed by copying & pasting–
    TarzianWTTSDed1.jpg and TarzianWTTSDed2.jpg.

  2. Gerald L (Jerry) Spore

    Reply

    Above file names should be TarzianWTTSDedProg1.jpg and TarzianWTTSDedProg2.jpg.

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