Type: Hotel
Expansion size: 20 rooms
New restaurant: 1,926 square feet
Developer: St. Croix Preservation Inc.
Architect: Archnet USA
Details: The owner of a hotel along Stillwater's St. Croix riverfront is proposing a three-story addition that would include a clock tower recalling a train depot that once occupied the site.
The plans, which gained the unanimous approval of the city's planning commission in March, call for a 20-room addition to the 42-room Water Street Inn at Myrtle and Water streets.
Described by architect Roger Tomten as "one of the most significant lots in Stillwater," the corner played host to the Union Depot from 1888 until 1960. Its tower, along with the nearby Lowell Park pavilion, defined the city's waterfront until the station was torn down in 1960 to make way for Hooley's grocery store.
The store is now also gone and the lot currently serves as a patio for the inn, which was opened in 1995 and also incorporates the historic Lumberman's Exchange Building on the same block.
Under the expansion plans, the hotel's existing lobby would be converted to a formal dining space and the clock tower would include a rooftop bar and patio.
Don Jacobson is a freelance writer in St. Paul. He can be reached at hotproperty.startribune@gmail.com.
