THE REGENCY HOTEL

Atlanta, GA

Upon completion of my freshman year at Georgia Tech, my Dad declared my academic effort a catastrophe, and shut-off the funding. I detached, and went looking for a job in Atlanta that summer of ’64. After a week of calling on architectural firms in downtown Atlanta and almost giving up, Griff Edwards of Edwards & Portman took pity, and offered me the print boy / coffee maker job for the summer. One of my first real assignments was to check every dimension in this revolutionary new hotel being built in Atlanta – the Hyatt Regency, now an icon of Atlanta’s skyline.

The Hyatt Regency opened in 1967, and is now 50 years old for this sketch. The building consists of the main Atrium Tower and two additions completed in 1971 and 1982, now totaling 1,260 rooms. Its 22-story atrium has since influenced hotel design around the world. On top of the hotel is a revolving restaurant with a blue dome, giving the hotel its distinctive skyline profile. Another of my summer jobs was to lug the dome model from our office to the lender’s board room, where one banker scoffed – “what the hell is that?”

The occasion for this sketch was attending my fourth Atlanta Open ballroom competition, where I again managed to win all of my single heats, and place well in my multi-heats.