Wrong
My searches led me to newspapers.com, a searchable archive of old newspapers around the globe. They were advertising a free 7-day trial, but they needed my credit card in the event I lose track of days so they can hit me. At first I backed out of the site because I really didn't want to enter my info, but then I realized that this may just be the ticket. So, armed with my free trial, I went to town searching for whatever information I could gather. I ended up with over 100 pages, some about the company's news happenings over the years and some with ads I found particularly interesting.
In that search, I was easily able to find addresses, or at least the general area of the locations I previously had no knowledge of. Google Maps was very helpful once I knew of the general locations...thank goodness for Signature Inns' unique look and footprint! I found some updated dates as well for openings of some of the other locations. Some I found a full date for, some I found at least a month and year; others had no mention and what I listed before still stands. I also was able to update a few dates as to when some of the hotels were sold.
Following is my attempt to correct and add to my earlier-posted timeline. I have put my corrections/additions in bold:
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Their first hotel was opened in 1981 in northwest Indianapolis, Indiana. Many more locations were built through the 1980s, with at least one each year being built up through 1989. One was constructed in 1996. Four locations were other hotels purchased by Signature Inn, two in 1987 and two in 1997. All together, the chain consisted of 35 locations. Indiana, the chain's home state, contained 14 locations. Ohio and Michigan contained six locations, Kentucky had four hotels, Illinois had three, and Iowa and Tennessee each had one hotel. There was a 36th hotel planned in Nashville, Tennessee, for 1995, but those plans were cancelled and the land was sold in 1998.
Below is a timeline I've put together showing the chain's growth:
1981 – Indianapolis Northwest (IN) opens
1982 – Fort Wayne (IN) opens
1983 – Indianapolis/Castleton and Lafayette (IN) open
1984 – Muncie (IN) and Cincinnati Northeast (OH) open
1985 – Indianapolis West, Indianapolis South, Indianapolis East, and Kokomo (IN), and Columbus (OH) open
1986 – Evansville (IN), Florence (KY), and Warren (MI) open
1987 – Elkhart, South Bend, and Terre Haute (IN), Detroit/Romulus and Grand Rapids (MI), and Cincinnati North and Dayton (OH) open. Terre Haute and Grand Rapids were other hotels before becoming Signature Inns
1988 – Normal and Peoria (IL), and Lexington and Louisville South (KY) open
1989 – Bettendorf (IA), Auburn Hills, Kalamazoo, Plymouth, and Warren (MI), Canton and Middleburg Heights (OH), and Knoxville (TN) all open
1995 – Nashville (TN) planned, but never built
1996 – Indianapolis/Carmel opens
1997 – Springfield (IL) joined the chain after being a Sheraton and a Best Western. Louisville East (KY) joined the chain after being a Best Western.
For the sake of correctness, my original post said four hotels didn't match the Signature Inn building style. Because Grand Rapids was another hotel prior to its acquisition by Signature Inn, there were five hotels that didn't fully share the standard Signature Inn look.
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Another startling discovery was that Signature Inn filed for bankruptcy in 1990 on nine of its 32 inns ("Debt woes bankrupt Signature Inns," The Indianapolis Star, April 24, 1990). The company built its hotels and then sold them to private investors, who would then pay Signature Inn a commission fee along with management and accounting fees. Once the hotels were sold, the proceeds would be used to help pay down the debt incurred to build them. Unfortunately, they were unable to sell a total of nine of them and the company was saddled with that debt.
A February 23, 1991, article from The Indianapolis Star titled, "Travelodge goes after Signature Inns," outlined those nine hotels. They were the Peoria and Normal locations in Illinois; Detroit, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, and Plymouth in Michigan; Canton and Middleburg Heights in Ohio; and Knoxville, Tennessee. By March 1991, Travelodge ended its bid and the bankruptcy case was over before the month was out. Signature Inn's nine motels in question would still remain company owned.
The next article I was able to find, "Signs point up for once-struggling motel chain," The Indianapolis Star, January 29, 1995, mentions that in 1994 the chain began having a profitable year. BUT, it also mentions that Signature Inn had 23 hotels, which was down from 32 back in 1990. Searches of various county auditor sites and little newspaper snippets show me the following:
Detroit/Romulus and Grand Rapids, Michigan, were sold off sometime in 1992. Auburn Hills, Michigan, and Lexington, Kentucky, were sold in late 1992 or early 1993. Kalamazoo and Warren, Michigan, were sold in 1993. I turned up an ad in the August 16, 1993, edition of The Akron Beacon Journal for a bank directed sale of the inns in Canton and Middleburg Heights, Ohio. By the early part of 1994, they were in the hands of other chains. By late 1994, Plymouth was no longer a Signature Inn.
To "complete" the sale timeline, I am reposting information from June 2015 with corrections in bold:
After 1994, the next location to be dropped would be the Northeast Cincinnati location in early 2002. Next to go in late 2003 or early 2004 was the Florence, Kentucky, location. Cincinnati North followed behind somewhere between February and April 2004. Bettendorf, Iowa, disappeared from the web site in mid-2005. Dayton, Ohio, was sold in June 2005 and Terre Haute, Indiana, was sold in December 2005.
The Indianapolis Northwest (their first hotel) and Indianapolis East locations were sold off sometime in mid-2006. Somewhere between September 2006 and October 2006, the Columbus, Ohio, location was gone from the site (though the county auditor shows the property was sold in February 2006). Also of note is that somewhere around this point in time, a lot of the remaining establishments would be under the Jameson Inns name. However, it appears that Springfield, Illinois; Normal, Illinois; Fort Wayne, Indiana; Lafayette, Indiana; and South Bend, Indiana, would keep the Signature Inn name.
As of late 2006, the chain was down to 17 locations. The next one would be sold in August 2007, that one being the Fort Wayne, Indiana, location. The rest of the chain was granted a reprieve until February 2010 when the Springfield, Illinois location was closed (that hotel was demolished two months later). According to property records I've been able to find, the Lafayette, Indiana, location was no longer part of the chain as of May 2010.
The remaining 14 locations would be safe until sometime in early 2011 when Kokomo, Indiana, would no longer be affiliated with the chain.
The next round of closures came in late November or early December 2012. Normal, Illinois; Elkhart, Indiana; Evansville, Indiana; Indianaoplis West; Indianapolis South; and Muncie, Indiana, would all be removed from the chain, dropping the number of hotels from 13 down to seven.
When the end of 2012 rolled around, the remaining seven locations would all be sold off, those being Peoria, Illinois; Indianapolis/Castleton; Indianapolis/Carmel; South Bend, Indiana; Louisville, Kentucky, East; Louisville, Kentucky South; and Knoxville, Tennessee.
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The good news is that most of what I've found fits in the timeline of my update schedule since nearly all of these newly-found locations were built in 1988 or after. Warren, MI, is the exception and that may be next up. The not-so-good-but-not-a-big-deal news is that a lot of my previous posts have SOMETHING to be added to them. I will be working on a plan for presenting the updated information. My long-term goal is still to figure out how to visit the other 16 still-surviving locations that I've not been to.
For the sake of correctness, my original post said four hotels didn't match the Signature Inn building style. Because Grand Rapids was another hotel prior to its acquisition by Signature Inn, there were five hotels that didn't fully share the standard Signature Inn look.
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Another startling discovery was that Signature Inn filed for bankruptcy in 1990 on nine of its 32 inns ("Debt woes bankrupt Signature Inns," The Indianapolis Star, April 24, 1990). The company built its hotels and then sold them to private investors, who would then pay Signature Inn a commission fee along with management and accounting fees. Once the hotels were sold, the proceeds would be used to help pay down the debt incurred to build them. Unfortunately, they were unable to sell a total of nine of them and the company was saddled with that debt.
A February 23, 1991, article from The Indianapolis Star titled, "Travelodge goes after Signature Inns," outlined those nine hotels. They were the Peoria and Normal locations in Illinois; Detroit, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, and Plymouth in Michigan; Canton and Middleburg Heights in Ohio; and Knoxville, Tennessee. By March 1991, Travelodge ended its bid and the bankruptcy case was over before the month was out. Signature Inn's nine motels in question would still remain company owned.
The next article I was able to find, "Signs point up for once-struggling motel chain," The Indianapolis Star, January 29, 1995, mentions that in 1994 the chain began having a profitable year. BUT, it also mentions that Signature Inn had 23 hotels, which was down from 32 back in 1990. Searches of various county auditor sites and little newspaper snippets show me the following:
Detroit/Romulus and Grand Rapids, Michigan, were sold off sometime in 1992. Auburn Hills, Michigan, and Lexington, Kentucky, were sold in late 1992 or early 1993. Kalamazoo and Warren, Michigan, were sold in 1993. I turned up an ad in the August 16, 1993, edition of The Akron Beacon Journal for a bank directed sale of the inns in Canton and Middleburg Heights, Ohio. By the early part of 1994, they were in the hands of other chains. By late 1994, Plymouth was no longer a Signature Inn.
To "complete" the sale timeline, I am reposting information from June 2015 with corrections in bold:
After 1994, the next location to be dropped would be the Northeast Cincinnati location in early 2002. Next to go in late 2003 or early 2004 was the Florence, Kentucky, location. Cincinnati North followed behind somewhere between February and April 2004. Bettendorf, Iowa, disappeared from the web site in mid-2005. Dayton, Ohio, was sold in June 2005 and Terre Haute, Indiana, was sold in December 2005.
The Indianapolis Northwest (their first hotel) and Indianapolis East locations were sold off sometime in mid-2006. Somewhere between September 2006 and October 2006, the Columbus, Ohio, location was gone from the site (though the county auditor shows the property was sold in February 2006). Also of note is that somewhere around this point in time, a lot of the remaining establishments would be under the Jameson Inns name. However, it appears that Springfield, Illinois; Normal, Illinois; Fort Wayne, Indiana; Lafayette, Indiana; and South Bend, Indiana, would keep the Signature Inn name.
As of late 2006, the chain was down to 17 locations. The next one would be sold in August 2007, that one being the Fort Wayne, Indiana, location. The rest of the chain was granted a reprieve until February 2010 when the Springfield, Illinois location was closed (that hotel was demolished two months later). According to property records I've been able to find, the Lafayette, Indiana, location was no longer part of the chain as of May 2010.
The remaining 14 locations would be safe until sometime in early 2011 when Kokomo, Indiana, would no longer be affiliated with the chain.
The next round of closures came in late November or early December 2012. Normal, Illinois; Elkhart, Indiana; Evansville, Indiana; Indianaoplis West; Indianapolis South; and Muncie, Indiana, would all be removed from the chain, dropping the number of hotels from 13 down to seven.
When the end of 2012 rolled around, the remaining seven locations would all be sold off, those being Peoria, Illinois; Indianapolis/Castleton; Indianapolis/Carmel; South Bend, Indiana; Louisville, Kentucky, East; Louisville, Kentucky South; and Knoxville, Tennessee.
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The good news is that most of what I've found fits in the timeline of my update schedule since nearly all of these newly-found locations were built in 1988 or after. Warren, MI, is the exception and that may be next up. The not-so-good-but-not-a-big-deal news is that a lot of my previous posts have SOMETHING to be added to them. I will be working on a plan for presenting the updated information. My long-term goal is still to figure out how to visit the other 16 still-surviving locations that I've not been to.
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| former Fort Wayne location, now a Quality Inn |
Wow! That's a lot of digging - glad you were able to complete the history!
ReplyDeleteMe too! Now I just need time & money for a series of road trips...
DeleteNeat to see this. I work at the original Signature Inn. It is now a Days Inn & Suites. I'd love to send you pics.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to see them! My email is busman_49yahoocom
DeleteI worked at signature inn in Knoxville TN. I was there a few days before opening. I helped set the rooms up. I was head laundry. I have a photo album full of pictures of in and outside of signature inn. I loved it and the people I worked with.
ReplyDeleteI would love to see the photos!
Delete