Omni Bedford Springs Resort

Bedford Springs, a nineteenth-century mineral springs resort located just off the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Bedford, Pennsylvania,is a large complex of buildings erected throughout the nineteenth century to accomodate the growing popularity of the hotel and its seven mineral springs. The multitude of small, freshwater springs, which were believed to have miraculous healing powers, at first attracted those suffering from illnesses, but the popularity of the resort grew due to its location at the foot of the Alleghany mountains, its appealing architecture (which includes the Stone building, erected in 1804, the Colonial Building, a monumental, columned revival building constructed in 1842, as well as a long series of porticoed wings built in the Carpenter Gothic style from the 1870s to the 1890s), the popularity of outdoor life in the mid-nineteenth century as east coast American cities became more and more industrialized and polluted, and easy accessibility due to the the establishment of a Pennsylvania Railroad stop in Bedford in 18__. The hotel complex became an attraction for politicians, and, in addition to serving as the "Summer White House" for President Buchanan from 18__ to 18__, also served as a getaway and meeting place for other presidents, senators, and congressmen. It was also visited by Daniel Webster, Aaron Burr, and other presidents such as William Henry Harrison and Zachary Taylor. The first transatlantic cable sent from Queen Elizabeth England to the United States was received by President Buchanan at the hotel during the late 1850s. The hotel's golf course, designed by thegreat golf course architects, Tillinghast and later, Donald Ros, in the 1920s, is still in business. During World War II, the hotel and grounds were used as a U.S. Navy radio training center, and also as a detention center for interned Japanese diplomats.

As medicine and health-awareness advanced, the validity of the Springs' healing powers took a plunge, but the hotel, which constructed a nineteen-hole golf course in the 1920s still operated successfully throughout the 1950s. By the mid 1980's, however, business at the hotel had diminished substantially, and in 1992, Bedford Springs was shut down completely.

An $87 million dollar restoration project began in October 2005 to restore the hotel, with a reopening planned for Spring 2007. The new resort will be a 218-room, four-star hotel, resort, spa, and conference facility. It will contain a 130-seat restaurant with two dining ammenities areas along with a magnificently restored colonial-style tavern with stone walls and beams dating to 1804. The new resort will contain a new spa and outdoor pool,a magnificent restoration of the mineral spring-fed indoor pool, built in 1905, and accomodate outdoor life activities including hiking, cross country skiing, fly fishing, river rafting, carriage rides, day excursions to many of Bedford's famous and beautiful covered bridges. k