File:Hotel Alcazar (Lightner Museum and City Hall), King Street, St. Augustine, FL - 50785042957.jpg

English: Built in 1887 and designed by the New York-based architecture firm of Carrère and Hastings, this Spanish Renaissance-style building was built by Henry Flagler in an effort to draw wealthy tourists to the warm winter climate of Florida. When opened, the hotel featured a large amenity wing in the rear, which housed the world’s largest indoor swimming pool, a gymnasium, locker rooms, a lounge, a bowling alley, and a spa, which featured turkish baths and a massage parlor. In addition, the building featured a spacious interior courtyard encircled by shops, and a three-story ballroom. The hotel served to extend the capacity of the larger and more popular Ponce de Leon Hotel across the street, which had been completed by Flagler prior to the Alcazar. The hotel was enlarged by the construction of a skybridge over Cordova Street and subsequent annexation of the adjacent Cordova (Casa Monica) Hotel in 1902, which increased the number of guest rooms and guest amenities available at the hotel. In 1932, following the onset of the Great Depression and subsequent reduction in tourist visits, the Hotel Alcazar closed. The hotel was utilized by the federal government during World War II, with the skybridge over Cordova Street being demolished in 1945. In 1947, the hotel was purchased by Otto C. Lightner, a publisher from Chicago, and was converted into a hobbies museum, which was turned over to the city of St. Augustine in 1948. The northern portion of the building, which encircles the interior courtyard and was formerly home to guest rooms, shops, and the main lobby, is now utilized as St. Augustine City Hall. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.