Public Spaces in Remodeled Hotel Retlaw Set to Open Today

96 years ago today – March 2nd, 1923 – the Retlaw Hotel opened for the first time. And today, on the anniversary of the day the doors first opened to the public, the current owners of the historic hotel in downtown Fond du Lac are welcoming the public back into part of the building. Steve Frantz of Legendary Hotels says the Espresso Cafe and Wine Bar opened at six this morning, and later today the lobby bar and Jazzmine’s Restaurant will open to the public as well. Frantz says it’s a momentous day in the restoration project – and thanks the community for their support so far. “This type of project could not happen in every community,” Frantz said. “We really needed the support of city officials, county officials, the business leaders of the community and the community in general to pull this together. Fond du Lac should be proud, because in a lot of communities a building like that would fall into disrepair and be razed at some point. It really was a group effort,” Frantz said. He adds that the hotel currently has certificates of occupancy for the first three floors of the building – with the first sets of sleeping rooms set to open in the near future.