The Glennland 5/30/21

The Glennland Building in downtown State College is on the National Register of Historic Places. Built in 1933, the five story building was the tallest build in downtown for 40 years. But the building was most famous for its elevator and the indoor pool - both firsts for central PA. The story is that many locals visited the building just to ride the elevator and see the pool. The pool was used for both competition and recreation. It was removed after Penn State opened the McCoy Natatorium in 1967, which had public hours.

The Scholar Hotel Group purchased the building in 2019. They took a year to remodel the inside top to bottom for "mixed use" – offices, apartments, and now a 72 room Hilton Hotel. There are period photos in each hotel room, and a 12 ft by 12 ft lithograph of the original pool behind the font desk that gives the appearance that the lobby is separated from the pool by a glass wall. Neat!

The hotel was the last area in the building to reopen. We walked downtown as a COVID GOOTH (Get Out Of The House) activity and happened upon the opening - our good luck.