Wyoming
has many iconic hotels. The Wolf Hotel in Saratoga, the Plains in Cheyenne, the
Parkway Plaza (soon to reopen with a new name) in Casper, the Noble in Lander,
the Irma in Cody, the Sheridan Inn in Sheridan, and the Occidental in Buffalo.
But one of the most unique was in Rock
Springs.
Don Anselmi had a dream. But sometimes dreams were hard to come by in 1965 in
his historic railroad town.
He dreamed about a big hotel in a little town of 6,000 people. Reason for his
dream was the audacious news that the largest highway project in United States
history was poised to put a major east-west link through Sweetwater County.
With his brother, attorney John Anselmi, bar owner Mike Vase, and petroleum
distributor Vern Delgado, they borrowed $1.5 million, which was a fortune back
in those days.
Soon they broke ground on a parcel of land at
the intersection of Highway 191 and the new Interstate 80. A photo from the
Rock Springs Daily Rocket Miner at the time shows a smiling
Don Anselmi digging a spade-full of dirt. He was literally standing in the
middle of nowhere.
Now a big hotel in a small town is usually pretty big news but what made this
hotel special was its unique and almost one-of-a-kind style. It would be
a huge complex with all the guest rooms, meeting rooms, restaurants, bar, and
swimming pool under one big canopy.
Delgado had friends in Pinedale who were from Lubbock, Texas, who had just
built a new style of hotel.
Its design included a huge canopy over everything, which brought the outdoors
indoor. In Lubbock this was done because of the stifling heat. If used in
Wyoming, it would be done because of the wind and the cold.
Hundreds of Holiday Inn Holidomes were built in the decades after this design
made its debut, but the Lubbock hotel and the Outlaw in Rock Springs were the
pacesetters.
Today, the Outlaw Inn is still in the hands of the Anselmi family. Don’s
son Mark with his wife Nancy have owned an interest in the hotel for 30 years
and have owned it 100 percent for the past 17 years. And it has thrived.
Today, Mark rolls his eyes when recalling the unique design on the front of
hotel when it was built. But to Mark, as much as he appreciated its unique
look, all he can remember are all the times when trucks collided with it. One
time a UPS truck hit it with such velocity two of its wheels came off the
ground.
The hotel was doing okay and became a tourist site in its own right. The
summers were busy but the winters and springs, especially, could get slow.
Then 1971 came along and everything changed. Pacific Power and Light, the
huge regional electrical power company, picked Rock Springs as the location for
its gigantic Jim Bridger Power Plant.
Besides that boom, if there was another golden age for the hotel, it was when
Don Anselmi was the state chairman of the Wyoming Democratic Party.
The hotel became the epicenter of Wyoming Democratic politics during this time.
If something exciting was happening in the party, it often occurred right there
at the Outlaw at the intersection of Interstate 80 and highway 191 in Rock
Springs.
In recent years, Mark and Nancy have invested millions of dollars to upgrade
the entire look of the hotel. Today the exterior of the Outlaw is surrounded by
new, bold, detached canopies that stand high enough to avoid any collisions by
distracted truck drivers while the interior has seen complete renovation over
the past seven years.
Most recently, several suites in the hotel have
been furnished with unique furniture created by Centennial Woods of Laramie and
designed by Russell Meyer using reclaimed wood used on early snow fences that
protected Interstate 80 from driving snowstorms.
The first time this writer visited the Outlaw was in the early 1970s as my
partners and I were in the process of buying the newspaper in neighboring Green
River.
This building makes a powerful first impression. I had never seen anything like
it. It was like walking into a giant spaceship.
Here, in little Rock Springs in little Wyoming, was this amazing structure. It
was memorable. Especially to me some 45 years ago. I had never seen
anything like it.
The Outlaw is a historical marvel and has recently been listed as a National
Historic Place.
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