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AKA: Hilton Hotels, International, Incorporated, Habana Hilton Hotel, Habana, Cuba; Hotel Tryp Habana Libre, Havana, Cuba
Structure Type: built works - dwellings -public accommodations - hotels
Designers: Becket, Welton D., Architect (firm); Welton David Becket (architect)
Dates: constructed 1957-1958
25 stories
Building History
Los Angeles architect Welton D. Becket (1902-1969) had worked with Hilton Hotels International previously designing the successful and popular Beverly Hilton (1955) in Los Angeles, CA. Just a year or two later, Becket received the commission for this $24 million hotel and casino in Havana, Cuba, erected with the support of Cuban President Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar (1901-1973). Batista directed that financing come from the Caja de Retiro y Asistencia Social de los Trabajadores Gastronomicos, the Cuban catering workers' union'spension plan, and the Banco de Fomento Agricola e Industrial de Cuba (BANFAIC). Becket collaborated with the Havana wife-and-husband architectural duoGabriela Menéndez García-Beltrán (born 03/17/1917-d. 07/10/2008 in Washington, DC) and Nicolas "Lin" Arroyo (born 1917-d. 07/13/2008 in Washington, DC), who died in exile within three days of each other in 2008.
PCAD id: 24243
