Mississippi Lofts and Adler Theatre

Hotel Mississippi-RKO Orpheum Theater

The Hotel Mississippi was the last large-scale hotel to be built in the third phase of hotel construction in downtown Davenport after the Davenport Hotel in 1909 and the Hotel Blackhawk in 1915. It was designed by A.S. Graven of Chicago. Henry Dreyfuss of New York City, who was an art consultant for the RKO chain, designed the theater's interior. The building is situated on the site that was occupied by the Davenport Block, a commercial block built by Col. George Davenport, one of the founders of the city of Davenport and its namesake. The developer, George Bechtel, was able secure the means for the construction of the hotel during the Great Depression.

The building opened in November 1931 with 200 guest rooms and 50 apartments. The ten story building is 119.51 feet (36.4 m) high. Businesses such as a coffee shop, drug store, a clothier, realtor, floral shop and a beauty salon have been housed on the first floor over the years. Eventually, the hotel became an apartment building.

The RKO Orpheum Theater was a 2,700-seat theater that was built at the same time as the hotel, which surrounds the theater to the south and west. It was Iowa's largest movie house. Beside movies, entertainers such as John Barrymore, Liberace, Ella Fitzgerald and Pearl Bailey performed in the theater live.

The hotel portion of the facility is a ten-story L-shaped brick and granite building. The verticality of the building is established by way of the vertically aligned windows that are separated by decorative panels. The Art Deco style is employed throughout the building, including the theater interior. Overall, the façade of the building is void of excessive ornamentation. However, the stylized geometry indicative of the Art Deco style is found on the horizontal banding that defines the tenth floor. Decorative terra cotta panels with a floral motif are also used to define the mezzanine level of the lower stories.

Mississippi Lofts and Adler Theatre

The building had deteriorated over the years and by the 1970s the RKO Orpheum was rarely being used. The last movie shown in the theater was on September 11, 1973. In 1981, an effort began to restore the theater. The Davenport Chamber of Commerce bought the theater and donated it to the RiverCenter For The Performing Arts, a non-profit group that was established to raise money to restore the theatre and operate it as a performing arts center. The theater restoration project lasted from 1985 to 1986. The project included restoring the original crystal and glass chandeliers, and rebuilding and reupholstering the original seats. New carpeting was reproduced in England using a roll of the original floral woolen carpeting that was found during the remodeling project. The renovated theater is a part of the adjacent convention center complex called the RiverCenter that opened in fall 1983. The convention center connects the Adler Theatre with the Blackhawk Hotel. The theater was renamed the Adler Theatre after E.P. Adler and his son Phillip D. Adler. They had been newspaper publishers and philanthropists in Davenport and the decision to rename the theater was based on a $1.3 million endowment from Lee Enterprises, the company they led.

In 2004, the city of Davenport bought the hotel for $739,000 for the expansion of the Adler Theatre. In autumn 2006, a $9 million renovation was completed at the Alder. The theater’s stage was expanded from a depth of 29 feet (9 m) to 41 feet (12 m) into what was the west wing of the hotel. The renovations also included a new loading dock, additional dressing rooms, improved sound and computerized rigging systems. Paul Westlake was the architect for the project. Besides Broadway touring companies the theater is home to the Quad City Symphony Orchestra, Opera Quad-Cities and Ballet Quad Cities.

At the same time as the theater was being renovated, the Mississippi Hotel was undergoing a $8.5 million renovation. The last tenants were moved out of the old hotel in 2004 and 56 new apartments were created primarily on the south side of the building. The project was completed in spring 2007. J&T Development LLC of Chicago was in charge of the renovation. In addition to creating new apartments, the lobby area was restored to its past appearance. The project restored its multi-colored terrazzo floors, Art Deco-style elevator doors and walnut and teak wood paneling. The loft manager’s office was created from the hotel’s former check-in desk.

In November 2010, a new marquee was installed above the main entrance of the theater. It replaced one that was installed in 1997. Plans call for a larger marquee to be installed at a later date.