Page 6
Monday, February 8, 1982
Daily Nebraskan
Story by
John G. Goccke
Photos by
D. Eric Kircher
Top row, left to right:
The A.Q. Schimmel coat
of arms on the door of
the elevator; the front of
the Cornhusker Hotel; a
stone face above a
window. Bottom row,
left to right: John Novak
stands in the lobby; the
ballroom.
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Engineer repaints hotel with years of memories
Memories: That's what the Cornhusker Hotel is to
John Novak.
Memories of noisy conventioners drinking and laugh
ing. Memories of college students attending formal balls
and storybook dances. Faded visions of people from
across the United States filling the lobby, each hoping to
forget the troubles of the outside world and trying to
enjoy the magic of an hour or two in the Cornhusker.
Although the hotel stands with its entrances locked, its
utilities shut off and its lobby and rooms stripped of
furnishings, to Novak it is more than a shell waiting
demolition.
"I know every room, every inch of this hotel, and I
should. I worked here for 45 years," Novak, 68, said while
standing in the lobby. "I started working at the hotel in
1936, crushing ice for liquor. I would run 2,000 pounds
of ice a day through the crushing machine. On football
Saturdays, I would work 1 1 hours, crushing 7,000 pounds
of ice, and the hotel would still have to send someone to
go out and buy more."
Novak eventually was promoted from ice chipper to
porter and helped guests carry and unpack their suitcases.
He also helped them to their rooms when they had too
much to drink.
"I never minded helping guests when they drank too
much," he said. "Oh, they cursed me a lot but that was
about the worst of it. They never gave me much of a
problem."
Novak left the Cornhusker to fight in World War II.
Upon returning home, he worked as the hotel's engineer
until the Cornhusker closed to business in 1979.
Built in 1926 for $1 5 million, the 350-room hotel was
owned by the Lincoln Hotel Co. until 1930, when the
Schimmel family bought it. A.Q. Schimmel managed the
hotel and made it into a thriving convention center. The
hotel was sold in 1968 to the Radisson Company, which
closed the Cornhusker two years ago. Soon after, First
National Bank bought the building.
The hotel, located at 13th and M streets, and a
neighboring apartment building will be razed Feb. 21 to
make way for the new S41 million Cornhusker Square.
Cornhusker Square is a joint project of the city and Mur
dock Management. The square will be the site of a 300
room hotel, a convention center and a parking garage.
As Novak walked through the lobby and stepped
around the debris that littered the stairs and floors, he
seemed unaware of the declining condition of the build
ing. He looked at the south wall of the lobby where the
registration desk had stood and recalled the names of
guests. Through the years, such noted guests as Elvis
Presley, Robert Kennedy, Johnny Carson, Eleanor Roose
velt, Helen Keller and Orson Welles stayed at the hotel.
Novak's gaze moved north where a staircase led to a
large open area of the lobby.
"That area was the mezzanine," he said. "Anyone -guests
or visitors - could go up there and sit and watch
TV. The area was open to the public and the hotel did not
try to prevent anyone from using it. People could come in
and sit down and rest or warm up. Nobody bothered
them."
East of the mezzanine was a wall of French doors. Be
hind them was the dining room, which originally had been
a ballroom. It was the site of many University of Nebraska
social functions.
Each year, the military ball and the formal dances of
the sororities and fraternities were at the hotel. Phi Beta
Phi sorority opened the formal season then and the Kappa
Delta traditionally closed it. The spring season began with
the Alpha Tau Omega Storybook Ball. People dressed as
Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Sonja Henie and Hitler waltzed
around the dance floor, and storybook scenes covered the
walls.
During World War II, Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity spon
sored a dance at which guests were admitted only after
they presented a phonograph record. The records were
given to the United Service Organization for use in the
group's military entertainment projects.
through the years, guests danced to the mnsir of urm
quartets and small jazz bands. Groups like Leo Beck, and
rat Asn and f lis tinders performed in the room. During
the hotel's early years. KFAB radio had a studio at one
g
end of the ballroom and broadcast live shows during the
dances.
In 1938, the ballroom became a dining room, and a
larger ballroom was added to the west side of the hotel.
Novak walked over and tapped a pane in the French
doors. He explained that the glass had to be replaced with
painted wood.
"We had to buy glass by the ton," he said. "We got
tired of having to replace the panes all the time because
someone would drink too much and throw a bottle or
glass through the window. So we replaced them with
wood."
Leading the way through a back stairway that ended in
the main kitchen, Novak recalled the commotion caused
by cooks racing to prepare meals for hungry patrons. He
walked to the back service entrance and pointed to the
door that he used to enter the hotel everyday at 7 ajn.
and exit when his work was done between 1 1 pjn. and 2
a.m.
"It was hard working seven days a week for that many
hours," he said. "You can imagine what kind of strain
that put on a marriage."
Novak walked hick through the kitchen and down a
flight of stairs leading to what was the hotel's main rest
aurant, the Landmark. Across from The Landmark was
another restaurant called the Tee -Pee, originally called the
Tasty Pastry.
The Tasty Pastry was a meeting place for many
generations of college students. Couples met their friends
and dined on beef levi sandwiches, shoestring potatoes
and Russian mint milkshakes.
Novak questioned whether the new convention center
will be a success because of the time lapse between the
Cornhusker's closing and the convention center's opening.
"During that time period, people have learned to go
somewhere else. It's going to be hard to get them to come
back to Lincoln." he said.
Even though the Cornhusker holds so many memories
for him. Novak said he would "rather see it come down
than remain in its present state. I even asked to push the
button when they blow it up."