Arissa Viering | Goodday Mineral Wells | 10/29/2020 | The Baker Hotel Updates
“We were just so surprised and thrilled to have the opportunity! Neither of us has ever been in the Baker at all!”
Roylee & Denise Wright
Roylee and Denise Wright are citizens of Mineral Wells and were married at the Women’s Club in Mineral Wells. Roy grew up in Perrin, TX and Denise grew up in Mineral Wells after her father moved to the community in the 1960’s. Her father was a military man and was stationed at Fort Wolters before he started his own helicopter business. Just like any other member of the Mineral Wells community, they are well aware of the Baker Hotel and its importance.
Like any normal morning, Roylee and Denise Wright were busy getting ready to take on the day when they suddenly received an invitation to tour the Baker Hotel. Full of excitement, the couple quickly agreed to attend the tour and began to prepare for the exciting day that was ahead of them.
Upon their arrival, Macy Nix and Mark Rawlings greeted the couple and served as their official tour guides for the private tour.
Starting at the basement, the couple observed the many updates that had been made to the Grand Ol’ Lady. However, never had they imagined that they would get to see every floor of the Baker Hotel – even the famous clock tower at the top.
On any day working in the Baker Hotel, Roy and Denise state that the weather definitely plays as a factor to the comfort when inside the building. “There are no fans. Once we decided we were going to the top, we just really started climbing. A great breeze went all throughout the building and it wasn’t a hot day. I bet the workers are enjoying these cooler temperatures.”
As Roy and Denise made their way throughout the Baker Hotel, they took note of how each room looked. The posters of each room showing the future plans including a recreation room, gym room, and cigar balcony left them in awe:
“Just being there…you could just almost feel what had happened over the decades and the lavishness of it. I can just visualize the women in their dresses, the men in their suits, and the magnificence of everything . . . You could just sense what has happened before and what is going to be. It is just incredibly exciting about this being in our community – what a treasure it is for us, but also a treasure for people that come from all over.”
Denise Wright
Denise and Roy enjoyed the architecture and the aged machines that they saw throughout the Baker. Roy’s curiosity was quick to pinpoint the motors of the elevator as he longed to know the history of the elevator itself. As the couple approached the key desk, Denise remembered seeing a photo of Judy Garland once opening her mail beside the desk. She immediately went to stand in the very spot where Judy once stood, amazed at the beauty that surrounded her.
Denise and Roy have high hopes for the Baker and the future events that will take place within its walls. Denise thinks of her daughter’s future wedding and wishes almost that the Baker Hotel could open its doors in time for the event:
“The weddings that the brides can have out there on the balcony will be just beautiful.”
Denise Wright
Something that is interesting that Denise and Roy noted during the tour was the ‘Blessing Salts’ that they found along with several of the other artifacts. “The prayer was by a Michelangelo picture and the prayer was in reference to that.”
Roy and Denise state that seeing the Baker Hotel in person versus seeing it in photos just didn’t do the historical building justice. “Even though you can see the pictures and can appreciate it, it’s not the same as walking through those halls and seeing the intact tiles and architecture and the grandeur of it all.” The multi-story ballroom and the arched ceilings were just a few of the key pieces of architecture that Roy and Denise marveled at.
“There is stunning architecture everywhere. You envision how it’s happening inside of there, but to actually go in and see what it’s like right now…the restoration process is being done with impeccable care and is incredibly well managed.”
Even great care is being taken within the bathrooms: “The tile that is in the bathrooms are similar to a style to what we see nowadays, yet it’s totally different in how it’s made and I’m amazed that they are going to have that exactly replicated to the same tile as before.”
The walls appeared as though they had wallpaper upon them. However, the Wrights soon realized that the walls were covered in hand drawn stencils in each hallway with detailed craftsmanship:
“The amount of time that it must have taken to do every single one of those basically by hand and how much of it is still intact is what’s so great.”
Roylee and Denise Wright believe that the Baker Hotel will provide an “overwhelmingly positive” improvement to the Mineral Wells community. “There’s so much enthusiasm for it from an economic standpoint. It’s going to help our community thrive – just from community pride…the people that have left Mineral Wells are seeing the posts online and they’re just so excited to see their home community thriving and getting so much momentum going. One of the things that we really felt is just incredible gratitude to the people that believed in this all along and put in all of the hard work to bring it to where it is today and all of the hard work throughout the coming years. Even though COVID has arrived, the project hasn’t been derailed – it appears to have stayed on track.”
One single question was asked to Denise and Roy at the end of the interview:
“Do you believe that the Baker Hotel will ‘save’ Mineral Wells?”
“I think it’s broader than that. There has already been a lot of work in downtown to set the momentum. It would have been easy to set these projects up first and then come in, but for us, even within the last year, it was so exciting for us to just be able to go downtown and go to the restaurants on North Oak and have dinner and just stroll Downtown. There is entertainment at each venue and it has grown to have much more of a cultural feel and I think it’s going to continue to grow.”
Denise Wright
Former Co-Founder | June 2020-Nov 2020 | Graduate of Texas Christian University with a background in medical anthropology, psychology, and creative writing. Passionate about writing novels. Loved the Mineral Wells community and all that it had offered her and her family.
