Those of you who've attended the Comic-Con International in San Diego for a good many years have probably at some point set foot in the Hotel San Diego, located in the heart of downtown. The venerable landmark was built in 1914 by the Spreckels Brothers, owners of the Spreckels Sugar Company. They were responsible for a lot of the development of San Diego and they gave the city what was for decades, one of its finest hotels.
In the seventies, when we all started going to San Diego Comic Book Conventions, back when they called them that, it was a frequent venue for con events. Some years, before it outgrew any available hotel ballroom, the Inkpot Awards presentation was held there. There were many memorable parties and gatherings, such as in 1982 when a group of Jack Kirby's friends staged a memorable surprise birthday party for him in one of its halls. Perhaps some year, you were either so hard up for money or so desperate for an available room (or both) that you even booked into its sadly-deteriorating accomodations. It was one of the cheaper places to sleep and con-goers took advantage of that up until June of 2001 when the building was declared structurally unsafe and was closed down.
On Saturday, April 15 at 8 AM, the Hotel San Diego will be imploded to make way for a new federal courthouse building. Which is silly. Anyone who's tried to find somewhere to stay for this year's Comic-Con International can tell you the city doesn't need a new federal courthouse one tenth as much as it needs more hotels.
Thanks to Jackie Estrada for letting me know about this. I have only fond memories of the place. Then again, I never stayed there.