Crown Plaza San Antonio

CLUB NEWS: Literary Club installs officers for new year

The Literary Club met May 3 at the home of Opal Sumners with 11 members and one guest present. Officers for 2011-2012 were installed and include President Wanda Trout, Vice President Betty Watts, Secretary Wilma Dobrec, Treasurer Opal Sumners and Reporter Virginia Knibb.

Betty Withrow presented an amusing and enjoyable program, reviewing two books by Lewis Grizzard, “My Daddy was a Pistol and I’m a Son of a Gun” and “If I Ever Get Back to Georgia I’m Gonna Nail My Feet to the Ground.” The first book was a tribute to Grizzard’s father, crediting may of his “sayings’ to him. The second book covers Grizzard’s life and his involvement in becoming a newspaper reporter.

Members attending were Jayne Floyd, Elaine Frazier, Virginia Knibb, Karon Lawrence, Elma Lee Lawrence, Karon’s mother and guest; Mary Jo Morris, Linda Smelley, Opal Sumners, Mary Nell Taylor, Wanda Trout, Betty Watts and Betty Withrow.

Mary Hall Mantooth — DRT

From Lufkin attending the 120th Daughters of the Republic of Texas Convention in San Antonio at the Crowne Plaza Hotel Riverwalk were Mary Goodwin, Elizabeth Jenkins, Susan Sumners, Len Medford, Mary Jane West and Janice Ann Rowe. Julie Jumper-Morris from Dallas also attended. The convention had a record attendance of 582 members. The theme was “Remember The Past & Celebrate The Future.”

Mary Goodwin from the Mary Hall Mantooth DRT Chapter was elected the District IV Representative to the Board of Management. During the Friday luncheon the group heard Bobby Jackson of Rockport give a monologue on “The Life of Enrique Esparza” a small boy that survived the siege of the Alamo. During the Friday Memorial Service members Virginia Peavy and Rachel Largent Summy recognized. Judi and Tommy Martin were there to represent Rachel Summy. The memorial book will be on display after June 1 at the DRT Library on the grounds of the Alamo in San Antonio.

Recognized at the Awards Luncheon from the local chapter with 25 year memberships were:  Doris Jones Foust, Letha Loper George, Leah Catherine Jones Mann, Nancy Hopkins Reily, Brenda McKinney Roberts and Mildred Buckner Sparks. 

Essay titles for 2012 are, for fourth grade, Big Foot Wallace or Susanna Dickenson. The topic for seventh grade is “Battle of San Jacinto.” All four and seventh grade classes are invited to participate.

Crowne Plaza hotel's loans are in default - San Antonio Express-News

Another downtown hotel could be headed into receivership after defaulting on almost $60 million in loans.

The Crowne Plaza Riverwalk, a 410-room hotel on Pecan Street, is the newest target of legal action.

Attorneys for the U.S. Bank National Association , as a trustee for a group of real estate investors, and CRVI Crown Plaza said in a petition filed Oct. 13 with state District Court that two loans totaling $59 million to the Crowne Plaza's owners are in default.

The hotel, which is valued on tax rolls at $38.9 million, continues to take reservations and operate normally, a representative said Thursday.

The suit's plaintiffs, which obtained the rights to the loans from Merrill Lynch Mortgage Lending Inc., have asked the court to appoint a receiver for the hotel so their interests can be protected.

"The appointment of a receiver is necessary to ensure the preservation of the property for the benefit of plaintiffs and to avoid further damage to plaintiffs," the suit said.

It asks for a judgment making the hotel's owners, a joint venture of HEI Hotels & Resorts , liable for the $59 million principal on the loans in addition to interest and late fees of $780,674 and other costs.

HEI's response to the suit was upbeat, but brief.

"HEI is fully confident any debt matters raised on the Crowne Plaza San Antonio will be worked through in a satisfactory manner with its lender in due course," a spokesman said.

If a receiver is appointed, the Crowne Plaza would join the century-old St. Anthony Hotel on the list of San Antonio properties under receivership.

The 352-room St. Anthony faced debt of $48.3 million, or more than twice its taxable value, records showed this summer. It also experienced a 39 percent drop in room revenues from 2008 to 2009.

The Crowne Plaza is a 21-story hotel on the River Walk that was converted first into an Adam's Mark hotel in 1997 and assumed the Crowne Plaza brand in 2004.

Its prior owner gave it a $6.4 million upgrade, and HEI said when it acquired the property in 2006 that it would invest $7 million more there over five years.

But the recession has pummeled hotel owners for about two years. San Antonio hoteliers have faced the additional burden of booming competition as the area has become one of the hottest spots for hotel construction across the nation.

Across the city, revenues per room dropped by almost 22 percent as the recession deepened last year, Colliers PKF Consulting USA has calculated.

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Brazing and soldering, proceedings of the 3rd International Brazing and Soldering Conference : April 24-26, 2006, Crowne Plaza Riverwalk Hotel, San Antonio, Texas, USA

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