By Michael Perna Jr.
Contributing Writer
WORCESTER – When it was first opened in 1913, the Hotel Bancroft immediately became Worcester’s premier destination not only for hotel use, but for occasions such as weddings, conferences, and all kinds of events. The hotel itself, located at the corner of Franklin and Portland Streets, had been built on the site of the city’s first Notre Dame des Canadiens church, which had burned down in 1908.
Lavish and fashionable
The hotel was originally going to have 225 rooms, but during its construction it was expanded to 325 rooms. Another expansion in 1929 brought the total number of rooms up to 500. The hotel, which was constructed in what is known as the “Beaux-Arts” style, was lavish and fashionable. The total cost of the original nine-floor building was $1.2 million, which would be roughly equivalent to $40 million dollars today.
Photo/Wikimedia Commons/Kenneth C. Zirkel
The hotel was built by New York businessman Frank A. Dudley and was designed and constructed by the Buffalo, New York architectural firm of Esenwein and Johnson.
Opened on September 1, 1913, the hotel was named after Worcester politician, diplomat, and historian George Bancroft.
This elegant hotel quickly became Worcester’s most upscale venue. Just being able to work at the hotel was considered a privilege.
Former employee shared memories
As an example, Shrewsbury resident Joseph Mazzari (who is now deceased), who had served as his class president at Shrewsbury High School, began working as a waiter at the hotel after his graduation in 1933. Imagine how excited it must have been for a young, inexperienced teenager to work at the hotel that had so many wealthy and famous guests.
In a 1985 interview, he related how excited he was to work there: “I was thrilled to be able to work at the Hotel Bancroft, especially considering the tough times everyone was going through during the Great Depression. It was a classy place, that’s for sure!”
Joseph Mazzari entered the U. S. Army during World War II and was the first military member from Shrewsbury to become a prisoner of war, having been captured in North Africa in 1942. He returned home in 1945 and passed away in 2000 at the age of eighty-five.
Sale and decline
In 1942, the Hotel Bancroft was bought by the Sheraton hotel chain and renamed the Worcester Sheraton Hotel.
In April 1952, John F. Kennedy was running for a seat in the United States Congress. The hotel hosted a lady’s tea for his campaign. He was running against Henry Cabot Lodge, who was at the hotel on the same day.
By 1955, the hotel was sold again, with it becoming known as the Hotel Bancroft once again.
By the early 1960s, the hotel began to experience a slowdown in business. More and more city residents were moving to the suburbs; construction of more interstate highways, along with the fact that more families owned automobiles, was having an adverse impact on Worcester’s downtown area as a whole.
Closure and redevelopment
The once luxurious Hotel Bancroft closed in 1964. The former hotel building was then converted into a two-hundred-fifty-five-unit luxury apartment building. It then became known as the Bancroft Commons for a number of years. In more recent times, it was renamed Bancroft on the Grid.
The building itself is located in what is now known as the Main and Franklin Streets Historic District. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
Although the former landmark looks much the same as it did during its “glory days,” it is now just a fading memory in the minds of many area residents.
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