Replica of Old Huntington Hotel Planned

The historic main building of Pasadena’s Huntington Sheraton Hotel, closed last October when it was found to be seismically unsafe, will be demolished and replaced with a replica, according to buyers of the property.

Lary Mielke, a partner in the company currently in escrow on the property, said the famed six-story building with its 350 rooms will rise again, this time with air conditioning, modern electrical wiring and other amenities that were unknown when the resort hotel was built in 1907.

The fate of the structure has been in doubt since last October when the owners of the extensive property, Keikyu U.S.A. Inc., closed the old “tower,” the original building that is regarded as the last of Pasadena’s historic resort hotels.

“Our experts have determined that it’s best to rebuild,” Mielke said Thursday.

Mielke, chairman of Gemtel Corp., a real estate development firm based in Los Angeles, formed Huntington Hotel Associates to buy the hotel last April. He said he hopes to open the new main building by late 1988.

Designed and built by Charles Whittlesey and Myron Hunt, the old hotel is noted for its Spanish Mission Revival-style architecture, its spacious lobby and extensive gardens.

About 100 rooms in a separate, more modern building and several cottages on the property are still in use.