Divine Lorraine Hotel
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Originally built in 1894 as The Lorraine, a luxury apartment building, and later converted into the Lorraine Hotel, the building was most recently owned by the International Peace Mission, an organization founded by the civil rights activist and religious leader Father Divine. The 10-story hotel, located at Broad Street and Fairmount Avenue in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, had 300 rooms and was intended as a model of integration and racial harmony.
Purchased in 1948 for $485,000 by Father Divine, the hotel was open to all races and religions, men and women. Many of the building's residents were followers of Father Divine and all were expected to live by a strict moral code. Smoking and drinking were prohibited and men and women were only allowed limited contact in the hotel.
The building was closed in 1999 and sold by the International Peace Misson. In May 2006 it was resold to Philadelphia developer Michael Treacy, Jr. and is being converted into condominiums. Development has stalled however, and the building remains in its dilapidated state, though now fenced in by Treacy, Jr.
