The Ho

This mural is on the side of Phoenix Public Market, in downtown Phoenix, where they have a twice weekly Farmers’ Market as well as Food Truck Friday and other fun things. It is by Joseph Sentrock Perez.

I like the different AZ elements in it as well as the Phoenix skyline. See the building with the big antenna on top? It’s right across the street from the Market.

It’s the Westward Ho, built in 1928. It was the tallest building in Arizona until 1960. Originally a luxury hotel, visited by numerous celebrities including JFK, Marilyn Monroe, Paul Newman, Al Capone and others, it closed in 1979, and was converted into senior housing. It now houses 300 low-income elderly and disabled people.

It’s on the National Register of Historic Places and was featured in the 1998 remake of Psycho. Apparently the inside has retained much of its splendor and charm but it is next to impossible to get into unless you personally know a resident.

The large antenna was originally the transmitter for one of the local TV stations and is taller than the building itself.

The style of architecture on the Ho is Mission/Spanish Revival.

The Ho is also said to be haunted and many ghostbusting groups have come to experience it. At one time, it had a speakeasy underneath called the Gold Spot, frequented by Bugsy Siegel, but the basement is inaccesible now.