Edifice Rex

The Atlantic Hotel rests its foundation on the north end, west side of Higgins Avenue, just south of the Bayern Brewery. Mercifully close to all downtown drinking establishments, I remember more than a few nights of stumbling into the grandad of downtown edifices to rest my body and spirit before heading home. These memories are appropriately hazy, hazy as the stoic clouds of smoke ( incense, tobacco, ganja) that billowed forth from the windows and doors of the venerable structure.

Just like many old gentlemen, The Atlantic has myriad stories to tell. Wonder how he would interpret mine, despite the fact that I never lived in the building...it would have overstimulating. But I always had the feeling that this building has an awareness and a soul and has been and will be storing the memories of everyone who ever strode up its wide, red velvet staircase. Perhaps in another life, I will be able to ask the soul of The Atlantic to spill its secrets...I will sit back with a cup of strong coffee and just listen.

From the Seventies

Across the Atlantic is a blog inspired by a building, a hotel on Circle Square in downtown Missoula, Montana. It has a rich history as an attractor for artists, a place for parties, a refuge from the mainstream, an epicenter of the arts, and a home to many people who have lived in this mountain town.
The Park Hotel is directly north of The Atlantic Hotel.
This snapshot is a vintage flickr find called Scarlett and the Park Hotel, clearly not about The Atlantic, but included here to show the immediate environment that The Atlantic Hotel exists in. Rather than being an island, it is a part of a district in a town that has a long counter-cultural history in the state.

photo credits: fieldnine from flickr