Dedicated in February 1914, the Clarke Hotel was hailed as a triumph of local initiative in Hastings. The $175.000 project originated with the Chamber of Commerce, which established a corporation to construct it through sale of stock to Hastings residents. Designed by architect CW. Way and built by the John Hempel Company, both of Hastings, it used Hastings-made bricks for the exterior, while local craftsmen created everything from the terra cotta trim and marquee awnings to the light fixtures, oak millwork, and mosaic floors. Named for prominent Hastings businessman Alonzo L. Clarke, the six-story Renaissance Revival style building was enlarged by a 1916 addition that expanded it to 170 "absolutely fireproof" rooms and included a ballroom with seating for 300. For the next seventy years, it served as the region's social center, hosting everything from daily coffee klatches to state conventions of every sort. Its grill room, with life-sized murals depicting "Wine, Women and Song," painted by an Italian member of the Royal Academy of Arts, was an especially popular gathering place. Among the many notable visitors to the luxury hotel were former President William Howard Taft and future President John F. Kennedy. After a million dollar renovation in 1987, the Clarke Hotel became the Kensington retirement complex, and that year the site was added to the National Register of Historic Places.