| Hotel Westward Ho | |
|---|---|
| (U.S. National Register of Historic Places) | |
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| Location: | Phoenix, Arizona |
| Coordinates: | |
| Built/Founded: | 1927 |
| Architect: | Lake,H. Rafael; Dorr,Louis L. |
| Architectural style(s): | Mission/Spanish Revival, Other |
| Added to NRHP: | February 19, 1982 |
| NRHP Reference#: | 82002082[1] |
| MPS: | Phoenix Commercial MRA (AD) |
| Governing body: | Private |
Westward Ho is a skyscraper located at 618 North Central Avenue in Phoenix, Arizona, formerly occupied by a hotel of the same name. When completed in 1927, the 208-foot (63 m) hotel was the tallest building in Arizona, a title it held until 1960. The Westward Ho was one of the city's premier luxury hotels until it closed in 1979. In 1981, the sixteen-story building was converted to housing for senior citizens. Westward Ho was thoroughly remodeled between 2003 and 2004 at a cost of over $8 million USD. Westward Ho currently supports a large radio transmitter antenna which reaches a height more than twice that of the building itself.
Trivia
Contrary to popular belief, the Westward Ho does not appear at all in the opening sequece of Hitchcock's Psycho. The tower that is often mistaken for the Ho's TV tower is actually the KTAR radio tower that once stood atop the Heard Building, located six blocks south of the Westward Ho. Both the San Carlos hotel and the Adams Hotels appear in the Hitchcock opening; the Westward Ho only appears in the 1998 remake. In the Gus Van Sant remake of Psycho, the camera zooms into a window on the 8th floor of the Westward Ho. But when Marion Crane (Anne Heche) leaves the room, the number on the door is 514.
I would be careful about the first graph. I believe the hotel from the original "Psycho" was the Hotel Luhrs on Central and Jefferson in downtown Phoenix, or perhaps the nearby Hotel Jefferson. Also, the radio tower on the Ho is not from the Heard Building. The Heard Building, formerly the Greater Arizona Savings Bulding, had its own tower, which was taken down. I believe the Ho tower was for KOY and perhaps other stations.
References
- ^ National Register Information System. National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service (2007-01-23).
