Yesterday, sadly, the iconic sign at the Hotel Bentley collapsed and shattered. The hotel, which is owned by Bob Dean, has been closed since 2004.
Thanks to Charles Ward for permission to post these photos.
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Charles Ward’s Photos of the Hotel Bentley’s Collapsed Sign
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Sad…
This is heartbreaking…you can look back at the ‘retro’ pictures of Alexandria’s downtown, the rich flavor of it’s unique old architecture…I just wish some money had been spent to repair those jewels. Instead they were replaced with dull, square, 60’s-70’s type buildings with styrofoam dropped ceilings and fluorescent lighting, some already needing extensive re-doing again, so what’s the difference? We could have retained our classic style and hometown cultural appeal. But what’s done is done, all we can do now is try to convince those with the ‘say so’ to save what we have left.