It was quite an event on the evening of Dec. 12, 1929. That was the day Albert Steinfeld’s new Pioneer Hotel opened in downtown Tucson. With 250 guest rooms, the need for a top-notch hotel for the growing community was apparent. Over 500 guests attended the affair, which included dinner and dancing in the new ballroom.
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Advertisement in the Star from Dec. 12, 1929.
The guest list was a who’s who in the city and the state. The names of those attending included Drachman, Mansfield, Hughes, Manning, Ivancovich, Cosulich, Ellinwood and Mathews.
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Star files
The Pioneer Hotel under construction in 1929.
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Pioneer Tucsonan Albert Steinfeld had long invsioned a fine hotel for Tucson. Working with two businessmen from El Paso, they worked out financing for the twelve story “ultra-modern hotel.”
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Star files
The ballroom after the hotel was remodeled in the late 1960s.
The hotel was exquisitely decorated in a Spanish style. The Star wrote “Those of an artistic bent — whose entire day may be ruined by an inharmonious note in the color scheme of their environment — will have no fear of an aesthetic chill running down the spine when entering the stately portals of the Pioneer Hotel for, from the entrance of the hotel to the roof garden, every decoration and appointment blends like the after glow of an Arizona sunset.”
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1974 Star photo
The reception area following the closure of the hotel in 1974.
The Pioneer was designed by architect Roy Place who was responsible for many other well-known buildings in Tucson. It was artificially ventilated and air-cooled. Built entirely of concrete it was said to be “absolutely fireproof.”
On Dec. 19, 1970, the Pioneer Hotel suffered a devastating arson fire. Twenty-eight people perished in the resulting inferno, including Albert Steinfeld’s son, Harold, and his wife Peggy.
The hotel closed for good in September 1974. It was remodeled and turned into office space.
