File:2015 - Americus Hotel - Renovated Main Lobby Allentown PA.jpg

English: Americus Hotel - Renovated Main Lobby Allentown PA taken during the open house of the hotel in July 2015

The Americus Hotel, at Sixth and Hamilton Streets was built in the late 1920s to be the Grand Hotel of Allentown. No expense was spared in its construction and for decades afterwards, it was the primary business hotel for the Allentown Central Business District. It held many weddings and receptions, gatherings of all types, and hosted celebrities and politicians visiting Allentown. By the 1990s, the Americus began showing its age, however the economic decline of Center City Allentown caused it to start losing money. Maintenance on the building was deferred due to cost, and by 2002, the hotel's condition had become so poor that the City cancelled its residency permit and the hotel was closed.

After about a decade of various court proceedings, including a seizure of the property for non-payment of taxes, the hotel was bought by Albert Abdouche, a local investor. Abdouche began a massive cleanup and restoration of the building, putting several million dollars into the property. This photo, taken in July 1915, shows the restored hotel lobby during an open house.

Today, several businesses have been opened in outside stores of the Hotel, and Abdouche hopes to re-open the Hotel in 2017.