The Historic Park Inn Hotel to change operators beginning in 2022

The Indigo Road Hospitality Group is pleased to announce it will assume management of The Historic Park Inn Hotel beginning on January 1, 2022. The 27-room hotel, located in downtown Mason City, Iowa, is the last remaining hotel designed by renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright, drawing guests and visitors from around the world and earning a position on the National Register of Historic Places.

Founded by Steve Palmer in 2009, The Indigo Road Hospitality Group (IRHG) owns, operates, and manages restaurants and hotels nationwide. Starting with just one restaurant at its inception, the Charleston, SC-based group now operates over thirty properties across the country, committed to its core principles of serving with love and creating memorable experiences for all. The group has been named a Forbes Small Giant and appeared on the Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Companies. With food & beverage at the heart of its operations, the group’s dedication to excellence in the industry has been recognized the past three consecutive years with Palmer being named a semi-finalist by the James Beard Foundation’s award for Outstanding Restaurateur.

IRHG will assume management of all hotel operations, including management of the onsite restaurant and bar. Details for a new restaurant concept and name are forthcoming in the first quarter of the new year.

“Our team is thankful for the warm welcome to Mason City and The Historic Park Inn Hotel. We want the community to know that we’re determined to preserve the hotel’s historic integrity and local significance every step of the way through this management transition,” said Steve Palmer, Founder and Chief Vision Officer for The Indigo Road Hospitality Group. “We’ve enjoyed getting to know Mason City and the wonderful folks at Wright on the Park, and we’re eager to share our plans for the hotel’s new restaurant, which we believe will be a welcome destination and become a gathering place for Mason City residents and visitors.”

“As Indigo Road’s lodging division grows, we are proud to begin managing this historic property – the only Frank Lloyd Wright hotel in operation today,” said Larry Spelts, President of Lodging and Lifestyle Adventures at The Indigo Road Hospitality Group. “Our flagship hotel, Skyline Lodge in Highlands, NC, was also a historic renovation project for our team and has many common threads – in fact, it was originally designed by a longtime student of Wright. We look forward to continuing to carve out our niche in the travel industry with storied properties like The Historic Park Inn.”

Now known as The Historic Park Inn Hotel, the property was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright as the City National Bank, Law Offices and Hotel in 1909. After a myriad of changes and a twenty-million-dollar preservation and restoration project by non-profit organization, Wright on the Park, the property was restored to a working hotel and events center in 2011, over a century after its original completion. As the last remaining hotel designed by Wright, The Historic Park Inn Hotel is a tribute to his role in architectural history and offers visitors the opportunity to experience Wright’s distinct style and design.

“Wright on the Park Inc. is very excited to begin our partnership with The Indigo Road Hospitality Group in the new year,” said Tara Schlichting, President of the Board of Directors of the nonprofit. “They bring a strong background in the food and beverage category as well as previous experience with an historic hotel property, making them a great fit for The Historic Park Inn Hotel and Mason City. As we transition to a new hotelier, we’d like to thank HPI Partners for their top-notch hotel service over the past ten years and for their dedication to our mission of preserving, maintaining, and educating the public about The Historic Park Inn Hotel.”

A selection of photos for media use are linked here.

For further info on the hotel, please visit the website (which will soon undergo changes under the new management).

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About The Historic Park Inn: In 2011, one hundred and one years after its original opening, The Historic Park Inn Hotel gracefully began fulfilling its place as the last standing hotel designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, a tribute to his role in architectural history and a landmark in which Wright on the Park, the city of Mason City, and the State of Iowa can take great pride. It is currently leased by WOTP to HPI Partners, a division of the Stoney Creek chain, as operator. Since that opening, it is enjoying outstanding occupancy in its 27 hotel rooms, praise for its dining and bar facilities, frequent tours by visitors, and a steady rental of meeting rooms, including the ballroom, for activities.

About Wright on the Park: Wright on the Park is a non-profit organization, formed in 2005, in answer to Mason City’s plea for a local group to come forward and assume the rescue of the Historic Park Inn Hotel. The mission of Wright on the Park is to own, preserve, and maintain the Historic Park Inn Hotel and City National Bank designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and to provide continuing education to the public about its place in the context of architectural history. The board is chaired by Tara Schlichting.